ORTHO BITES brain and gave me a renewed feeling to go back into the office on Monday. I took my first comprehensive orthodontic CE course in 1988 and it changed my life forever. I had discovered the “missing piece” of my practice. What if I had never attended that orthodontic CE course? Would I be in dentistry today? Maybe an implant course changed your dental path. The point is this: if you had sat in your practice and not pursued CE, where would you be today? There is always more than one way to skin a cat or treat a patient! Whether it is continuing education in Endo or Perio or Ortho etc., you only know what you know and you don’t know what you don’t know! I had a comment recently from a doctor who has studied with me, stating that he had observed many clinicians simply place direct bond tubes on the first and second molars. He asked why I opted to band the first and second molars on my patients. I gave him my explanations and ended our conversation by chal-lenging him to give direct bracketing of tubes to the molars a try and see how it works. As stated earlier, my orthodontic CE path began in 1983. Since then, I have thousands of CE hours and I am still going. I always took away some-thing from every course I attended and employed some things I learned and discarded others. But I stored all of the various “pearls” away in case I ever needed them. Again, learning new techniques decreases the monotony of general dentistry. “Birds of a feather do flock together!” And, doctors who stay up on the latest techniques and concepts in dentistry have a tendency to hang around with other doctors of the same character. Whether you attend a one-day weekend course, a comprehensive course or a continuum program, doctors who stay active and involved in continuing education are simply better and more well rounded practitioners. Plus, attending meet-ings like the American Orthodontic Society’s annual meeting not only sharpens your orthodontic education in the various lectures offered, but also provides you the opportunity to learn many orthodontic concepts outside the lecture rooms, with one-on-one conversa-tions with other clinicians. I have found that while at our annual AOS meetings, I often learn just as much in a one-on-one encounter during a break. I will often corner one of my pediatric friends and get a mini-education in growth and devel-opment from them. Knowledge is power and sharing knowledge with each other is empowering. The Social Aspect of Continuing Education I can honestly report that the social value of contin-uing education, especially annual meetings like the American Orthodontic Society, has made a great impact in my 60-year-old life. I have made everlasting friend-ships and bonds that will exist for eternity. For most of us, dental school was not a self-esteem builder. It was competitive; some instructors were ruthless; and team-work was non-existent (at least in my experience). We graduated and immediately learned we were in a very competitive field. For many clinicians, dentistry tends to make us reclu-sive, defensive and skeptical. Instead of supporting each other as a profession and “covering” each other, giving each other the benefit of the doubt, we instead “bury” our fellow clinician by throwing rocks at one another, never attempting to understand the whole story. I always have believed that what you reap, you sow; and when we do not support each other, we lessen our profession. When I attended my first annual meeting of the AOS around 1990, I realized I had found a dental home. I immedi-ately knew I wanted to hang out with these types of practitioners. They seemed to be a different breed. It was sort of like finding a new church home where everyone really cared about each other. The average AOS member, I have come to know, works hard, keeps current in CE, supports each other, develops deep friendships with one another, and finds time to have some fun. I will never begin to be able to express the importance of the American Orthodontic Society in my social life. It has trans-formed me into a much better clinician. Credentialing & Tier Advancement As I was walking a patient back to one of my opera-tories one day and he passed the many certificates I so proudly display, he said, “This must be the “I love me” wall”! I remarked, “Yes I do love myself!” But it also displayed to this patient (as well as all of my patients) that I take my profession seriously; that I stay up with the latest techniques; that I pursue education with passion; and I am trained to treat them orthodontically. www.orthodontics.com May/June 2011 13
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society May-June 2011: Page 13
