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something is going to work as reported until we have a few years of experience using them. Life is a long process and it would be hor- rible to hate what one does for one’s whole life. Q: You do your own ceramics. Would you say that you are a perfectionist or an artist in your own way? A: I would like to define myself as an artist. The more I do that, the more artistic I feel, the more passion I feel toward esthetic dentistry and designing smiles. First of all, one needs to define oneself in a certain way. A musician is someone who just plays music, even if she is not very good at it. It really does help one’s mindset, because we tend to be self-negative. If one truly wants to be something, one has to start seeing oneself doing it. Q: Is creating your own ceramics also be- cause the results you envision are diicult to relate to others or it is diicult to let someone else do it for you? A: I would not recom- mend dentists learn to do ceramics them- selves. Like anything else, it takes five to ten years to become pretty good at it. I do it just because—and this ap- plies generally to the things that I do—it is the thing that gets me into the most peaceful state. When I am with patients, sometimes I am stressed, the phone is ringing, so even though I love doing that, when I sit down and create ce- ramics, it just puts me in such a state of bliss. That is what I enjoy most about it. Many dentists take my course thinking they want to save money by not paying a ceramist; well, that is the worse reason to do it. It has to be something that one is passionate about. What makes a good esthetic dentist? Someone who likes art, whether doing the teeth himself or herself, as composites, or having to evaluate what is good and bad dental art. That requires a certain personality. Some people have it, some do not and one just needs to be hon- est with oneself. It is about finding some- thing that does not feel like work when one is doing it; one just enjoys it. “Any dentist performing esthetic dentistry definitely needs to become a reasonable photographer.” partners, as well as a publishing company that can adequately and exceptionally market these courses. In the end, all those things figure in to making a great Clinical Masters™ Program. Q: Is that what appeals to you about the Clinical Masters™ Program? You are certain- ly busy and do enough traveling not to have a need to come all the way to Europe. A: Yes, I love teaching, but the hopping in airplanes is getting really old. As one goes through one’s career, one spreads oneself and moves in every direction. After a while, one comes to a phase in which one falls in with a specific group, like working with Yannis Roussis in Greece and Dental Tri- bune, who consistently do a great job of sponsoring programs and putting on pro- grams. As one human being one can only do so much, so one ends up gravitating to the people who have success, who have stay- ing power. I want to be a teacher to do what I do and let other people who have the expertise and determination, like Dental Tribune, do what they do best. I think that is the best way to marry these things. I am a pro- fessor at a university and most universities generally do a poor job at postgraduate educa- tion; a private company like Dental Tribune has to stay current or it would not stay in business. Q: When I see presentations on esthetic den- tistry and the possibilities, I wonder how much more can be achieved; how can the industry go beyond what is already possible. Are you constantly surprised by the new techniques and possibilities that arise? A: It seems that there has been incremen- tal improvement of what we already had. Obviously, the major achievement that has most impressed people is implants and the improvements there. I would say IPS e.max is a revolutionary material, a really high- strength glass-ceramic, and it appears that we are also going in that direction with zirconia, gaining more translucent zirconia. Those are probably the two areas of ma- terials that have developed pretty well. I would caution the reader though that we do not have any long-term clinical data for any of these materials, so while they do look better, we just do not know if Q: You teach photography as well. It is an important tool when making a presentation at a congress or showing a patient the envi- sioned treatment outcome. Does it also help the dentist achieve what he or she needs to do or is it more for the patient, when the dentist needs to explain or present something? A: Photography and cameras have evolved so much. Visuals have very high impact for people: a picture is worth a thousand words—I think it is worth 10 billion words if it is the right picture. Any dentist per- forming esthetic dentistry or anybody educating a patient does not need to be- come a master, but definitely needs to become a reasonable photographer. I am constantly surprised and it bothers me a little bit that, when it comes to esthetic dentistry, I see so many people teaching portrait classes, really cool classes in which they are painting lips and so on, taking in- teresting shots, great pictures, artistic to put on one’s wall, but relative to educating a patient, I would hope that how to take good dental images should be the focus. Q: You mentioned to me that you are pas- sionate about what you do. Tell me why. Is it because of what it brings to you, what it brings to others, or both? A: Yes, I mentioned to you that I am one of the more unidimensional people you will ever meet. I think, dream, have night- mares, 24 hours a day about teeth; it is in my consciousness. One just finds some- thing one is passionate about, like an artist who is passionate about his art. When he has free time, that is what he does. When I have free time, I make teeth. It is fun for me; it puts me in a special state of mind. Interview Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry issue 2017 — 13