A Vistor Part 2

Two weeks ago a young dentist travelled all the way from Bangalore, India to Saratoga Springs, NY to study with me for a week. It was an incredibly fast week and it was great to have him both as a guest in my home and as a dentist in my office.
I received an email from Dr. Ashok yesterday telling me that I have "ruined him" by teaching him excellence. I sent Dr. Ashok an email and told him that I had merely helped him move from the unconsciously unknowing to the consciously unknowing which means that now he knows that he doesn't know. Every professional knows what it feels like to not be able to do what they see other dentists or physicians do. Feeling inept is not a pleasant feeling.
Dr. Ashok's patients are much better off after he has spent a week learning. I commend Dr. Ashok for having the courage to recognize that he didn't know what he didn't know and have the intelligence to do something about it.

Dr. Benjamin teaches at SUNY/Buffalo Dental School

Last Memorial Day weekend, the Dean of SUNY/Buffalo Dental School and the Chairman of the Department of Restorative Dentistry (Dr. Munoz) asked me to return to the school to discuss my future role at the Dental School. Last Friday, I drove 5 hours in preparation to teach a course to a select group of senior dental students. I had the pleasure of spending all day Saturday with the students. The morning session was a lecture entitled, "The Direct Resin Mockup as the First Step in Predictable Excellent Results in Eshtetic Dentistry." This is the same lecture that I delivered to practicing dentists in Saratoga Springs the previous week. The afternoon session was a hands on course to teach my young colleagues how to manage resin so that they can achieve beautiful bonding on front teeth.
My visit was the very first time that a nationally recognized clinical dentist travelled to the school to teach dental students.
Why would I do this??? For the Money???? Never! I do not accept money when teaching at my alma mater, UB Dental School. So WHY did I go to Buffalo to teach?
I strongly believe that it is an obligation of the profession to teach excellence to our young colleagues. As my mentor, Fred McIntyre says, "If we do not teach excellence to our students, they will not know excellence." I wanted to show the students what a wonderful profession dentistry is and that when we treat our patients, it is an obligation to aim for excellence in our clinical dentistry.
I was honored to learn that my young students loved my lecture and that no one had ever given them a lecture like mine.
I was also delighted to have the Chairman of the Department tell me that there is no other faculty member at the Dental School who can do what I do at the level that I do it.
This was incredibly validating since UB Dental School rejected me as a student three years in a row....Redemption is sweet.

Peer Reviewed Article

I am thrilled to tell you that I had an article published in a peer reviewed journal. It is very easy to become published in what the profession calls "Throw Away Magazines." However, an article that is published in a peer reviewed journal takes a long time to write, be judged acceptable by a member of the profession and then revised as a result of comments of a board of reviewers. Needless to say, it has been more than a year to get my article published.
If you would like to read my article, cut and paste this link.
It is interesting to note that while most dentists my age (62) are either retired,semi-retired or just bored with dentistry, MY career has begun to flourish. I have opened a new dental practice, published an article and have lectured in Baltimore, Saratoga and Buffalo.
My career has a long way to go.

An Indirect Matrix Technique for Fabrication of Fiber-Reinforced Direct Bonded Anterior Bridges
Gerald Benjamin, DDS; and Gregori M. Kurtzman, DDS

http://www.compendiumlive.com/article.php?id=3258

Published!

My first article in a peer reviewed dental journal, The Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry (Jan/Feb 2010) arrived today.
I have invented many of the techniques that I currently use but I have never been motivated to share my methodology prior to publishing the technique in the magazine. As many of you know, my greatest enjoyment comes from actually treating you, my patient. Teaching also is a great source enjoyment.
When we reach a certain point in our careers, we recognize the importance of transferring what we have learned to the next generation of our colleagues.
The School of Dental Medicine has asked me to present a lecture to 6 of its most motivated senior dental students and in a few weeks, I will show them what the work will look like when someone loves their work.
These have become interesting times for me.

Direct Resin Bonded Restorations (Fillings)

I have told many of my colleagues on the ACE dental Forum that the only thing that causes more destruction of natural teeth than tooth decay are dentists. Do you think this makes me popular among my peers? I don't think so.
My colleagues ask me why I don't just place a crown on a tooth since direct bonded resin fillings are going to be crowns someday anyway. To me that's like asking why be born if you are destined to die anyway...It makes no sense.
The direct bonded resin filling is THE BEST and most conservative restoration that a dentist can place WHEN DONE CORRECTLY. The problem is that very few dentists have taken the time to master the technique and consequently much prefer to do full coverage crowns.. And the best part is that they can make much more money doing a crown than a 'filling.'

So why are so many crowns placed?
1. The insurance companies encourage the removal of beautiful, natural tooth structure and the placement of crowns by the large fee differential paid for crowns compared with bonded fillings.
2. Most patients don't care if their teeth are cut down as long as their insurance company pays for most of it.
3. Dentists refuse to master the challenging techniques for the placement of tooth conserving, strong, beautiful and long lasting direct bonded resin restorations.

So what is a patient to do? Go on the internet and find the most talented, most passionate and best educated dentist that you can to take care of you. The choice is really easy.But only if you care enough to save your natural tooth structure!

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

This is the mantra of one of my mentors, Dr. Fred McIntyre.
I am working on this very challenging case and I have spent the entire day (Friday) planning out how I need to approach the treatment on this case. Before I ever touch a patient on all of the beautiful cases on this website, I do the entire case on stone models. If you cannot successfully do the case on stone, you will not be able to do the case in the patient's mouth. Isn't it nice to know that BEFORE you start preparing teeth? Remember in grammar school when the teacher gave you a practice test on Wednesday in preparation for the real one on Friday? Planning cases on stone models is exactly the same thing and when I actually do the work in my patient's mouth, that is really the SECOND time that I have done this.
Why am I telling you this? The vast majority of dentists will take the stone models and send them to the dental laboratory and ask them to plan out the case. So how does the dentist prepare for the patient's appointment? THEY DON'T!!!
When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
So when you want to know WHY I probably charge more than some other dentists, it is because I have spent hours and days in preparation for your appointment. You trust me and I will do my very best not to let you down.

A Visitor

Almost two years ago, in a quick visit to a root canal website discussion group,I noted that a dentist asked the group how to polish bonding resin on front teeth. The world famous endodontist ( a root canal specialist from Manhattan) responded to the question posted on the forum that he only performed root canals and perhaps another dentist would be so kind as to answer the guests question.
I posted my answer to the question and never returned to the root canal site. Eight months later, I received a personal email from a young dentist in Bangalore, India asking additional questions. I sent the young dentist answers to his questions and I received another email with new questions...And on and on.
I have been mentoring this young dentist from India and in 10 days, he will visit my office in Saratoga and spend time with me learning how to do beautiful, strong, bonded dentistry.

I am honored that someone would travel around the world to spend time with this old country dentist. One might ask WHY he would do this since there certainly other dentists with a greater reputation.

I have never sought to be in the dental limelight, present lectures for large honorarium or be paid by the dental manufacturers to hawk their products. I will lecture at the School of Dental Medicine in Buffalo or at Root Canal Experts Learning Center and accept no payment. Or I will mentor young dentists also at no charge. My young colleague from India could see from my work that I was only interested in pursing excellence and that is who he wanted to learn from.

We will be honored to have Dr. Ashok Gowda in our office on February 9.

Standing Room Only

Last September, I gave a lecture to 20 local dentists about predictable excellence in Esthetic Dentistry in the Root Canal Experts Learning Center in Saratoga. Approximately 100 invitations were mailed out and the first 20 dentists who accepted the invitation were able to attend the course. The course directors were so overwhelmed by the response that they asked me to give the course again for a handful of young dentists who regretted that they were going to be out of town on the lecture date. This time invitations were sent out and within a day or two, the course completely filled up and there was again disappointment. We now have a second group of 20 dentists including 4 dentists who want to hear the lecture again. Sometimes dentists even call the Learning Center and ask to be included because they know that the learning experience is wonderful. I do not receive any compensation for giving this lecture...I do this because it is a professional obligation to help other dentists achieve their own next level of excellence. As a result of my last lecture in Saratoga, I have met some additional young dentists who ask to sit down with me to discuss their challenging cases. I am honored to have reached the point in my 34 year career where my young colleagues recognize my level of expertise and seek me out to help them.

Don Hewitt of 60 Minutes

60 Minutes aired a tribute to Don Hewitt, the founder, editor and producer of one of the longest running shows in history. During the show a remark was made about Mr. Hewitt which went something like," He loved what he did, he never got bored with the job and he never got burned out."
I have written about several individuals on my blog and all of them, including me, have the same characteristics: they love what they do, they are passionate about their job, they never lose interest in what they do and going to work is their favorite thing to do.
Why is it that the average citizen selects a physician, dentist, car mechanic, lawyer or accountant who is disinterested in the job and sees their profession as a means to occupy their time to earn a living.
Why would you do that when fabulous professionals ARE available to take care of you and your family and will care for you not because you pay them but because they just love to do the job that you hired them to do.
Please listen to me...Find the best trained, most talented, most passionately involved people in their craft to take care for you....That is a win-win situation. Excellent people are dying to be hired and if we don't hire them, they will find something else to do and excellence will no longer exist.