One of my hobbies is going to a cozy coffeeshop, find a next to a window table and read. Specially at some of the weekends when I am alone this is a routine for me.
This weekend I was practicing and enhancing my skills in using different Digital Implant software and designing surgical guides. I believe an implantologist should be able to understand the design and processing of surgical guide fabrication himself to have a better understanding of the entire treatment procedure even prior to the surgery itself.
While working with different software and designing our next patients’ surgical guides I wondered how computers have influenced our career lately. To the point that some universities are now offering a Masters Degree in Digital Dentistry.
Recalling back then during my dental schools where we had to use mortar and pestle to grind the Amalgam Pellet and mercury for amalgam restoration or then later the first generations of self-curing composites that came with two tubes (which became hardened very fast and its hard handling workflow!!!!), made me realize how fast technology is replacing old science.
To be honest I become fascinated knowing that with the knowledge of Digital Implantology I even can treat a patient for dental implant without seeing him or her in person. Having the CBCT can give me sufficient information about the bone (hard tissue), and the intraoral scan can give me sufficient information about the oral cavity and soft tissue. And with those we now can make a diagnosis, create a treatment plan, design and fabricate the surgical guide for dental implant placement.
Even now there are few DFA approved robots who can perform implant surgery procedure (which I have had heard during my residency program in college!)
Looking into my monitor and writing into my diary notebook about this makes me realize how important it is for us as medical professionals to adopt this new knowledge and be able to apply them in our daily practice. This field just like life itself is a dynamic world where change and new science or techniques may be introduced by seconds. We should keep in mind to keep the flame of learning on as we practice and learn new skills, techniques and technology.
I am very glad that my sense of curiosity has directed me in the field of micro-dental-surgery and digital implantology. Both of which I always dreamed of knowing since I was a dental student.
And as Eric Hoffer observed, “In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”