Being Dentist: Let My Country Awake...

 

Being Dentist: Let My Country Awake...

They say- TO ERR IS THE HUMAN... but I think it’s not applicable for doctors..

 

An incident that happened recently in Pune is making me write this.. A 3 year old girl accidentally lost her life while going a RCT at a dental clinic. The media got an opportunity to raise their TRP'S; they declared the doctor as murderer & this ruling by media was without even knowing the facts. 

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It's not uncommon these days..Death of a patient in a hospital/dispensary and that’s it..

 

Some opportunists nowhere related people will come over to do so called justice which includes physical abuse, destroying clinic as if the doctor has done it intentionally...I would like to bring to people notice that we are doctors & not God...even God have made mistakes isn't it...??? Few born deaf, dumb and with many such abnormalities...!!! How come people expect that doctor can produce results with every case... Human engineering done by God is sooo complicated that we are still trying to fully understand it...

 

 

To add onto it judiciary has included doctors into consumer act...

 

I don’t understand; whether we are sellers or what??? If yes, then why so much of noise when this seller charges for selling his skills? At one end you say doctor should serve and then you only make him a seller... how can a doctor serve fearlessly with free mind if he would be under so much of pressure every time?

 

People need to understand that amongst thousand cases one case MAY go wrong... In one case results may come compromised... that doesn't mean that doctor has done it intentionally...

 

 

Can a doctor afford to do wrong intentionally?

 

I wonder if same principles can be applied to judiciary also when lower courts decisions and higher courts decisions contradicts each other... 

 

Would you go to the consumer court for it...??? It’s not possible right..?? Coz then judges won’t be able to give decisions with fearless mind right...???

 

Same way doctors should also be exempted from this... not to go on killing people but to HELP THEM WORK MORE FREELY...FEARLESSLY...TO ENABLE THEM DOING WHAT IS NECESSARY THAN WHAT IS POSSIBLE... like they have shown in munnabhai na-" k form baad me bhara maamu; pehle patient ka ilaaj kar..."

 

This is not an excuse for non performance nor I'm telling doctors to play with patient's life..I am just asking people and media to ACT SENSIBLY.

 

Every doctor works for the well being of patient. If something goes wrong with the patient..then its the doctor who spends sleepless nights after patient's close relatives.

 

 

Which doctor won't like to have a smiling feedback from the patient?

 

Nothing would be gained from arguments & nasty behavior...  It will just widen the rift between doctor & a patient... LET'S CO-EXIST...!!!

 

We will have to understand limitations of doctor too... HELP US TO HELP YOU MORE EFFICIENTLY...BALL IS IN YOUR COURT...!!!

 

"Where the mind is without fear & the head is held high…

 

Where the mind is lead forward by thee into ever-widening thought & action...

 

Into that heaven of freedom...

 

My father..

 

LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE...!!"  

Source : DentistFriend

How To Deal, When You Are Asked For Guarantee On Dental Implants?

 

How To Deal, When You Are Asked For Guarantee On Dental Implants?

In initial days of my practice, one of the patients asked me “Doc, this implant would last lifetime, right?”  I was surprised with that sudden question.. I was really not used to all such bouncers but somehow I managed the situation of that time. The whole incidence had left me with the fear of facing such questions in future and that's when I decided to get answers to all such questions..

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The first thing that I tried to figure out was "Why do patients ask for guarantee of implant?" & I found the answer when I looked at the treatment option with patient’s perception. It is not that patients always ask for guarantee due the high treatment costs but sometimes it's due to the fear of surgery.

What patients ask is not wrong but as a clinician one should never forget that even after having best of knowledge, skills and vast experience, many things can go wrong and implants can fail. 

 

What best a clinician can do is; assure patient that things are done to the best of his knowledge, skills and experience; treatment results may last longer, subject to patient’s awareness, motivation and desire to follow clinician’s instructions and regular recall visits.

 

The word Guarantee is really dangerous.. 

 

As it literally means “promise” or “pledge”. How a doctor who is treating human body part (that is regulated by so many factors) can give LIFETIME GUARANTEE on a specific treatment.

 

"Guarantee" is fine with non-living objects but doesn't it sound weird with respect to living things?

Have you ever heard any experienced Cardiac Surgeon saying, “I have done a fantastic bypass surgery, now I guarantee you 10 years or 20 years of life”, probably you will never ever hear this. Forget about the cardiac surgeon even the Almighty has not given a guarantee of life. In my humble opinion “Guarantee” is not a word that should exist in the dictionary of a doctor. Being clinicians we all know that human body has complex mechanisms where many things are in simultaneous process. Above all every person reacts differently (Including both doctor and patient) in different situation so nobody can predict the longevity of treatment. 

 

In my practice there is absolutely no word called GUARANTEE, for your surprise some patients have even challenged me by saying, “Doctor if you can't give guarantee means you don’t trust your skills”, My polite reply to that was, "Sir I do trust my skills more than anything but what I don’t trust is YOU”. 

Overall studies have quoted success rate of single implants for more than 97% up to 10 years (less for implant supported full arch prosthesis), So that is what we can call life of an implant. After good surgical placement & implant prosthesis, If implant survives more than 10 years it would be all because of good maintenance and periodic recall visits kept by patient. 

 

Patients expect implant to survive till they die, which is not possible anyway. We need to make it very clear at consultation phase only that life of an implant would be up to 10 years sometimes it may be less than that (depending upon patient’s local & systemic conditions also).  I always tell my patients, “Huge amount that you are going to spend for an implant and using that implant all day for another 8 to 10 years, is a very long span, so spending on implant is completely worth; rather looking at the cost, look at the benefits like quality of oral functions you are going to get after dental implant treatment.

 

I never forget to mention that implant structure includes screw and crown, so there are equal chances of screw loosening and some damage or fracture to prosthetic structure due to wear and tear which can be managed subsequently with an additional cost. In case of an Implant failure, most suitable option at time would be suggested like an implant placement again or some alternative option with a reasonable cost. Never ever convince patients on the basis of promises that are beyond your control, be realistic and straightforward as it will give you long standing trustful relation with your patient and above all complete peace of mind. 

And last but not the least; don’t forget to tell your implant patients…

 

“Implants are lifeline but not for lifetime”. 

 

I wish you all a very Happy Implant Dentistry.

Source : DentistFriend

What After BDS: Earn and Learn! WHY GO ABROAD?

 

What After BDS: Earn and Learn! WHY GO ABROAD?

Year 2012;  of course I remember, that was my most terrible year. I had completed my BDS and landed in the state of dilemma like every other fresher dental graduate of India, with the same old question, “What After BDS?” Trust me, this “what next?” phase is very irritating and annoying. During this phase anyone will come to you and throw some bunch of advices on what to do after BDS even the ones who do not know much about dentistry.

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Here’s the list of some typical advices.. 

 

1. Tu Practice Kar.. Practice; Ya Ek Kam Kar Khudka Dental Clinic Kholde..

 

2. One of my friend did MBA after BDS, you also do it.. bahot scope hai...

 

3. Ya sabse best PG karle...

 

And then the time came to make a choice. When I decided to go for PG, I discovered some bitter facts. First is that there aren’t many colleges left in our country from where you actually get to learn and get that feeling of being a post graduate. Secondly; perusing PG from reputed dental institutes in India is very STRESSFUL. 

 

After doing a lot of research I found out about courses which let you study along with clinical practice. Yes post graduation life is a stressful one but not for me. I opted for distance learning masters program from King’s College, by far one of the best choices of my life. There are many universities in various countries which have designed their Masters courses for foreign students who are into clinical practice already. These courses are for those who are willing to acquire special skills but cannot afford to leave a running practice for a full time course. They are designed in a way that you can study along with your private clinical practice. 

 

Why this course over my regular MDS course??

 

Regular MDS is a full time course where you have to read, struggle, do as your teachers and seniors say and finish your course and then start your career. Too long?? Too cumbersome?? Part time courses give you an opportunity to take a break from your clinical practice, travel abroad and not only learn fine skills but also look at the bigger picture in dentistry! It is more than just root canals and crowns! Trust me.....

 

The standard of teaching is very good. Though lot of course content is online but the hands on sessions are great. The teachers are so learned and well adept with the current technologies and biomaterials. Student guides are also great. They are warm, friendly and true mentors! This course allowed me to enter into private practice which postgraduates in a country like ours get to do after 3 years of the MDS course. Not only did I learn what and how is private practice but also learnt master skills through the course.

 

Most Master courses have recognition all over the World except a few countries, but who cares, it makes you capable enough that people look at your work and not your degree! But people who wish to get into academics and teaching profession should reconsider because of recognition issues. But if you want a private practice I’d say go for such courses!

 

Course fee is also comparable to the MDS here in India. So think twice before enrolling your name for any course. Look out for options, weigh the pros and cons and choose the life you wished for. If you need any help please feel free to get in touch on below details..

 

Read Part II : What After BDS: Clearing The Confusing Clouds

Source : DentistFriend

5 Things To Consider Before Joining Courses At Any Dental Academy

 

5 Things To Consider Before Joining Courses At Any Dental Academy

Now a days as the level of Dental Education in some Indian Dental Schools is all time low.  There are some responsible experienced dental professionals who have come forward to guide young dental graduates. But unfortunately not many are able to stick to the original motive of imparting dental education and it is becoming more of a kind of business.

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Irony is that these days one has to take coaching for cracking premedical entrance exams to become a doctor and later they have to again take coaching even after graduating as Dental Surgeons.

 

If you go to any dental event or dental conferences and you will find some people standing at the entrance of venue distributing leaflets of various Dental Academies. The most funny/sad part is that some of these academies are being run by freshly pass outs and they are teaching subjects which need vast experience of over the years to master. PLEASE BEWARE OF THEM.

 

For example, How come you expect to learn Oral Implantology from someone who himself has not placed even 100 implants? Does he know the failures? As they say, Master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. 

 

My point of writing this blog is to share my personal experience that may help you in deciding from which right place to learn. Definitely we all need to learn and upgrade ourselves from time to time. So, here are the top 5 points to consider before joining any academy:

 

1.  Get reviews from your friends, college teachers, internet and check yourself which one is most liked and reasons behind it and then only make a decision. Never make a decision to join any academy considering your convenience rather give priority to best learning experience. Learning will never come easy, be always ready to leave your comfort zone, no matter even if you have to travel PAN India.

 

2.  Don't join academies mentored by any Novice. A novice can teach in right fashion and may know the Ideal work but he won’t be able to teach you the failures for sure as he himself is not aware as have not encountered many in his short tryst with the subject.

 

For example: Learn Oral implantology from a mentor who has done more than 1000-1500 implants over 10-15 years. i.e. now he/she is a speaker of International repute. He/She has seen the failures and will be able to teach you how to overcome them.

 

3.  It hardly matters whether your mentor is a BDS or MDS. This should not be your criterion of selection. Count the number of years of their practice and not degrees. Degrees do have a value but they don't matter much in this aspect. Many big names in this field are old time plain graduates who have done unofficial masters in clinical procedures at their own clinics.

 

For instance, one of my good friends is a pioneer in teaching micro-endodontics in a North Indian city near National Capital. He himself is a BDS graduate but has many endodontists in his fan list.

 

4.  Don't go for fancy courses, particularly Orthodontics courses. No doubt a BDS can practice orthodontics but that is possible after proper orthodontic training. Ortho is a very vast science in which prognosis is majorly based on treatment planning & how can you even expect to learn treatment planning in 5-10 days? Which otherwise needs 3 years.

 

I recently met someone who was repenting of wasting his energy and resources for doing a 7 day short ortho course and finally he has to call an Orthodontist for consultation.

 

5.  Lastly and most importantly. Choose the courses in which you have more number of patients to do than just the theory part. You always have Google option for theory and demo Videos.

 

I hope these points will help you in your selection of right course and academy.

 

Please Note: Further inputs from seniors in profession and friends are most welcome.

Source : DentistFriend

Clinical Dentistry: Should Dental Professionals Practice Botox & Dermal Fillers?

 

Clinical Dentistry: Should Dental Professionals Practice Botox & Dermal Fillers?

A lot is being talked and argued about the administration of Botox by dental professionals in India. Many dentists believe that Botox and Dermal fillers belong to dermatology and dentists should not perform these procedures; which is actually a misconception. This misbelief is because not many dentists in India are aware of the significant benefits that Botox has as an adjunct therapy in many dental procedures.

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Use of Botox in dentistry is relatively a new discovery, so probably its acceptance will take some time among Indian dental professionals. If you are a dentist practicing in India and have the same misconception then this blog is for you. I am hopeful that after reading this article your false impression will fade away to some extent.

 

The first thing that I want all the dentists to realize is that we are part of the medical sphere and we dentists are “real doctors.” Every time when we inject LA into a patient, we are delivering a medicinal agent into the human body that has real systemic complications. The only difference is; we have received special training and mastered to deliver local anesthetic into the human body and are comfortable in dealing with the complications. By the way, I would like share a fact that the adverse reactions and complications associated with the LA that we use every day in our dental practice are far more serious than those with Botox and Dermal fillers.

 

 

After training hundreds of dentists in India; I can say that, with proper training on Botox & Dermal fillers even you can become equally comfortable in administration of Botox like you are with local anesthetic. In fact I believe that we dentists can do it better in relation to other medical professionals when it comes to head-neck-face region as we are specialized in it.

 

Here are some dental treatments where you can use Botox & Dermal fillers:

 

1. Temporo Mandibular Joint Disorder

2. Bruxism

3. Facial Pain

4. Gummy Smile

5. Full Mouth Rehabilitation

6. Smile Designing

 

All the problems that I have mentioned above fall in the realm of dentistry and dentist. I believe, no other medical professional can do justice to such dental originated problems except a dentist. So let's not take these issues as a profession and stop letting politics get in the way of science & common sense. If you still feel that Botox and Dermal fillers are not for dentists then you seriously need to re-think!!!

 

I will share some of the cases that I have treated with Botox and Dermal Fillers in my upcoming blog posts.

Source : DentistFriend