What’s new in dentistry? How is this old f#@t supposed to know.

I suppose all of the new graduates fresh out of dental school have all the answers to this question, right?

I remember when I graduated from school almost 30 years ago thinking I was going to join my father’s dental practice and bring him out of the dark ages of dentistry with all of my new knowledge. Within a month of practice dad said come on we're going to this CE class after work. I’m thinking, class; I just finished four years of school. Can’t I take a break for a while?

I soon learned that my father and his dental colleagues in the immediate area were well out of the dark ages. In fact, even though I feel I got an excellent education at Loyola University School of Dentistry, I was more in the dark ages than the established dentists around me. Did anyone really ever use rubber base impression material?

We have a Thursday lunch group among the area dentists where we share corn bread, clinical skills, practice management tips, etc. We started 25 years ago and still meet every Thursday at La Fonda on Roswell Rd. at 1:00. Come join us. We also see each other at the various CE meetings as well as Northern District, Hinman and AGD meetings. I soon learned that CE wasn’t just about keeping up to date but it was about being out there in the community amongst my peers.

Fast forward 30 years later I’m still out there. I achieved a masters certificate through The Academy of General Dentistry. After all of that CE and all those meetings the single piece of knowledge that I consider the most important concept I ever learned is the simple fact of “how little I actually know.”

Each of us, new dentist and old dentist, brings something to the table. The best way for all of us to learn and grow is to share that knowledge. Invite a new colleague to lunch. Join a study club. Get involved in your dental society. Attend more CE than the State of Georgia requires. Hang out with your local colleagues at a CE meeting. Start a lunch group in your area. Come to a NDDS meeting. There is a vibrant active community of dentists in the Atlanta area having fun learning and sharing clinical skills. Don’t miss being part of it.

Thomas Jagor, DDS