In this era of dire economic need, general dentists need to bolster their income. One of the best ways to do this to take advantage of opportunities to learn more surgery.
Learning surgery principles and methods followed by hands-on experience is similar, in a way, to learning a foreign language with follow-up emersion that gives you fluency.
Both involve learning and doing. Both require patience and diligence but result in expertise and confidence.
Instead of vocabulary and sentences, it is studying step-by-step how to select appropriate patients, how to use instruments, which techniques, and how to avoid or manage common complications.
STEPS. Attached is an x-ray of a recent case (lower second molar) where a dental student was talked through it, case selection, elevator, cowhorn, crown breaking off, wider flap to see better, section cut, loosening the roots, distal root removal with a mini-Cryer, removing inter-radicular bone, skinny bur trough on the mesial of the mesial root followed by a Luxator to get it out.
These are the things that worked. A few other things didn’t work. When no progress in 2 minutes, tried something else. Supplemental PDL injection along the way.
Some things learned here can be applied on other cases – over and over. It’s deja vu. Treat patients in your comfort zone but let the zone keep growing.
