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There is no doubt that virtually every athlete in competition at the London Olympics is in the realm of world class. Competition leaves no doubts about who the best of the best are in each event. Athletes love to compete with each other as a means of rating themselves in the events in which they compete.
Dentist on the other hand, HATE to compete against each other because losing would mean that patients might leave one dentist for another, more competent clinician. And by not competing, it allows each dentist to claim that they are as good as the next dentist in the neighborhood.
In 1999, I entered one of my cases in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Smile Contest in San Antonio, Texas. My staff an I believed that the results that we achieved for our patient was spectacular and worth showing other dentists what we had accomplished. The cases were shown to independent judges without any indications of which dentists had completed the work and my case was selected as THE BEST IN CLASS for the type of work that we had done. All of the nationally recognized dentists who I had studied with came over to congratulate me on my spectacular achievement and it was at that moment that I became nationally recognized for my work.
Winning the contest was secondary to becoming the first American dentist to attain a Certificate of Proficiency in Esthetic Dentistry from the State University of NY at Buffalo and to date, there are probably fewer than 75 dentists in the country with a University based Certificate and none in the Capital District.
Many patients and dentists believe that all dentists possess the same level of knowledge, skill, talent and passion and that it is way too difficult to find 'the best' dentist even if one exists. The fact is that today it is very easy for one dentist to distinguish him or her self from other dentists.
I won a nationally held contest, I post my work on international dental websites for other dentists to critique, I teach and mentor other dentists and my passion for my work has never been greater.If a patient wants to find a highly proficient dentist, it would be very easy to do.
I love my work and I hope that it shows!
