Dentists can become a bit despondent about their working life. Part of the problem is that many general dental practitioners dislike performing treatments such as root canals, which often seem to be all about pain and distress. They believe the procedure is difficult, awkward, slow, tedious… the list goes on, added to the fact that it maybe a thankless task if you have a highly stressed patient. Actually, I love my job as an endodontist and want to start spreading the word.
Endodontics is something that gives me enormous satisfaction. Two patients I treated recently illustrate this. The first was a girl from Liverpool, who called the surgery at 8am crying her eyes out. She left a message, but was sobbing so much we could hardly hear her. We phoned her back and she got on a train to London. She needed a root canal treatment and had been in agony all weekend – she was also anxious because the dentist she’d seen beforehand had been a bit rough. When she arrived we gave her injections to get her out of pain and she left the surgery numb, but beaming – she felt good.
She had sacrificed the money for her outfit for Aintree, but it was certainly worth it.
We treated another young girl who’d been up all night in pain, and who was terrified. She’d gone to a dentist two months previously, but all he’d done was put a temporary dressing on the tooth. She had a hot pulp and we gave her sedation. She giggled all the way through her treatment and phoned to thank me the next day, completely pain-free.
These sorts of cases make my life worthwhile – seeing people who are either terrified and/or in a lot of pain, walking out of the surgery having had a really good experience. One of the reasons why I love my job is that I have the opportunity to alleviate suffering and increase someone’s quality of life. It is both a gift and a privilege
to be able to do this kind of work.
Let’s work together
Recently, there’s been a debate between specialist orthodontists and GDPs who are increasingly carrying out orthodontics. An advert placed by the British Orthodontic Society argues that specialists alone should be doing orthodontics, that they have the highest level of training and people who’ve done weekend courses shouldn’t become involved.
As a result, a lot of GDPs feel that there’s a conspiracy to stop them doing orthodontics – and yet have also discovered that in certain cases it’s actually not as difficult as they’ve been told.
The situation in endodontics is the complete opposite – we don’t want to say that dentists shouldn’t be doing it. With today’s phenomenal new instruments, coupled with great training, anybody can do endodontics to be proud of.
Share knowledge
I get a sense of satisfaction in training my colleagues. People phone me every day for advice, which I freely give. I don’t tell them that they should be referring patients out – that’s not the point of those calls, we’re not using them to poach patients or get referrals, but to help and educate colleagues on everything from what is the best filling material, to achieving good pain control. If a practice provides good emergency treatment, it will grow and we are here to advise and help.
The majority of endodontists feel the same way. We’re not insecure; we are in a position where we can help our colleagues and patients. The reward for us is not always financial; it is more intangible than that. Endodontics is no longer about fatigue and drudgery and all of us now can produce very photogenic root fillings.
Ultimately our success lies not only in pain control, or in performing pretty-looking endodontics, but also in the strong relationships we have built with both patients and referrers. That’s why I feel happy and want to spread the word.