Cliff's Notes

Where Have All the Dentist’s Gone? “Enter The Millennial”

The cultural revolution of the 1960’s brought on many changes, that’s the first one I remember. Being at the back end of the baby boomer generation has given me the opportunity to see the future in the past. There is an old saying, History repeats its self and change is inevitable, but are all changes for the best? Are we forgetting how to think?

Last week I had the opportunity to sit in on a restorative update sponsored by Asteto Dent Labs with Dr. Stace Linde from Colorado. Dr. Linde lectures throughout the United States and after the program we had a chance to sit and talk. His observation were the same as our mutual friend Dr. Howard Glazer, where is the clinical advancement of the Millennial Dentist going?

The Millennial Dentist … This is something new and it will take 10-15 years to gauge the effect on dentistry. Several months ago over a fast lunch with Dr. Glazer, he noted that the average age of seminar attendees was getting older. Dr. Linde agreed with his observation and shared a few stories of his own. Millennial Dentists are getting more of their information on products and techniques through on-line chat rooms and are avoiding physically attending lectures. But, is this a good thing? Physical interaction with speakers and groups is essential to a better understanding of a subject. Hearing questions asked and seeing the response of the speaker, watching their body language, and interacting with other practitioners is quickly becoming a lost value. Millennials are so caught up in technology that I sometimes wonder how they will continue to provide quality customized medicine for their patient base.

Customized Medicine … Dentistry is a medicine that requires a unique approach to every patient. On-line forums, due to their format, can only provide case scenarios and solutions where as face to face group interaction raises questions and various solutions can be discussed and debated without distractions. At Dr. Linde’s restorative program there were questions asked that raised other questions steering the discussion into a different direction and then circled back. Every procedure is an action and for every action there is a reaction. Physical group interaction can give you a scope of reactions to a single procedure and you can’t put a value on that. Technology is a wonderful thing but it takes free thinking, discussion and debate to advance the diagnostics and techniques.

What Makes a Better Dentist … Professional athletes get better by watching, directly competing and communicating with athletes better than them. Healthcare professionals get better by interacting with clinicians that are more experienced than them. How many times have you heard a seminar participant ask a speaker about a unique case that would vary from the technique?

Life Gets in the Way … The demands on today’s healthcare professional take a lot of time away from family and friends. However, taking a few hours here and there to sit in on a quality subject may be very enlightening. Try it, you just may be energized.

April 16, 2017 - Posted by Cliff's Notes Blog | Uncategorized