A look at what factors influence successful education and growth.
Why did you choose dentistry? A keen interest, or perhaps following in familial footsteps? Regardless of your reason, dentistry continues to be a challenging yet gratifying and unique profession that still welcomes large numbers of dental students every year. One reward from a dental career is the opportunity for continual skill development. Irrespective of each individual’s goal, learning and skill advancement are guaranteed to promote personal and professional growth – for the naturally inquisitive, dentistry provides the chance to diversify and enliven your career.
Adopting new skills is often touted in the modern day as a means of elevating everyday life, improving confidence and making oneself more productive and energised. In dentistry, skill development is encouraged and often mandatory to maintain the highest possible level of care.
It is accepted that learning new skills changes the brain. A study postulated that “populations of neurons can produce new patterns of activity to enable new behavioural capacities” following long-term learning. Another study noted that the more proficient you become at a skill, the brain shifts from “more controlled to automatic forms of task performance”. Essentially, the skill becomes easier and the brain is less active when performing it. Interestingly, the researchers also found that activity in other areas of the brain, the ones not usually involved in skill performance, increased.
Skill development enables individuals to take advantage of the world around them. On a personal level, new skills such as learning a new language or how to play the piano invite the individual into a sphere they might never have considered venturing. Professionally, a varied set of skills can add value to a person as a potential employee, as different competencies can be considered valuable in any industry. In dentistry, a profession that is always shifting and producing modern concepts, materials and products, keeping your skillset regularly revised is imperative. The required skills in dentistry are numerous – clinicians need fine motor skills, an observant eye and communicative abilities, as well as the ability to utilise them to a high degree, often under stressful conditions.
Seek out new skills
As those with experience under their belt can attest, procedures and treatments can soon become second nature, although dentistry will nonetheless always keep you on your toes. Discovering new skills is also extremely straightforward, as there are a plethora of high-quality learning and training opportunities available in the UK. When one skill has become ingrained, seek out another – not only can this help to improve clinical confidence, but it can benefit the dental practice, the dental team and help boost profitability and productivity. Most importantly, you can cater to a wider range of patients, allowing them to have more treatment options and experience an outstanding level of patient care.
It is important to be mindful when choosing which skills to develop. Dentistry is bustling with increasingly popular disciplines such as cosmetic and restorative dentistry, but as training is largely self-funded, you must choose skills that will be actionable and will benefit you. Implant dentistry, for example, has established itself as a popular modality of choice, largely due to dental implant stability, aesthetics and longevity. Our ageing population continues to provide unique challenges to the dental team, with various branches of implant dentistry having been developed to meet these demands. This includes concepts like zygomatic and full arch system implants, in addition to surgical procedures like bone and tissue regeneration. In light of this, it is easy to see how skills can multiply until you have an impressive set of clinical abilities.
Choosing the right training provider is another important consideration when enhancing your skills. Effective skill development is only possible when you are led by knowledgeable and proficient educators, and have a good support system around you. Straumann recognises the need for high-quality education for dental professionals. It offers an inclusive educational programme encompassing all disciplines of implant dentistry. Courses are suitable for various skill levels, with full and part-time options available.
Get learning
From birth, humans are constantly acquiring new skills in order to adapt and survive in the modern world. Within dentistry, new skills are paramount to professional and personal growth, allowing clinicians to stay abreast of the trends and challenges that continue to arise. Enhanced skills are also integral to patient safety and play a key role in the advancement and expansion of dentistry as a whole.
References available on request.