"Find peace in your work"

A couple of  weeks ago I gave a lecture to a group of OHTs and dentists about dentine bonding; a pet subject of mine. They had asked me to talk on that topic as they wanted to learn more.

They all seemed to find it interesting and I hope that it helps them be better clinicians.

It was exciting to share a passion of mine with them.

Last weekend I attended a course with Dr Steve Schiffenhaus on ceramic overlays and there was a lot of content on bonding. Well, I suppose they fall off if not correctly bonded, right?

There was a dentist present who had flown in from Jakarta for the weekend course. He wants to set up a biomimetic group in Indonesia to help educate the profession and promote dentistry that aims to preserve and restore teeth for the long term.

There were jokes about it being a meeting of a cult. Why is that so?

Why is it that following the instructions of the materials we are using, and doing everything we can to respect tooth structure and place restorations that maintain vitality is perceived as fringe or a bit odd?

Why is it that this part of dentistry is not the foundation upon which all restorative dentistry is taught, such that it is just the way we do things?

Setting aside the ceramic restorations which I can see are more difficult to integrate into university courses, I find it puzzling that promoting the fundamentals of correct and optimum bonding protocol is not underpinning all restorative dentistry at Universities. I would have thought it would be a no brainer?

Why is it, as a profession we, are drawn to materials that save us maybe 20 seconds. Are we in that much of a hurry?

If there is evidence that certain generations of bonds are better than others, how come we are so quick to believe the marketing or the sales rep and jump on the new material where yet another ingredient has been added to an already overstuffed bottle of adhesive.

We’re a curious profession, aren’t we?

I don't have the answer to this but I can speak from experience.

Once I had taken the time to read some research and improve my material choice and protocol, I found that it brought a sense of joy following each step of that procedure.

From isolation to completion. Doing everything to the optimum of my ability.

This is what I teach students or young dentists I come into contact with. Take your time and do it properly.

At the course, Dr Steve Schiffenhaus told a story that a mentor of his once said to him;

I realised that that's what I do by following the steps. I find peace in my work.

Have a great week.

Rosie