Dental Tribune Pakistan Edition No.5, 2016

2 DENTAL TRIBUNE Pakistan Edition September 2016 Career development opportunities and support in a corporate practice By Dr Sarah Weston Corporate dentistry is better than its image, says Dr Sarah Weston. H aving worked for most of my career in the independent sector, I was aware of the negative press surrounding corporate dentistry before I joined the mydentist group, but I have to say that those rumours were all unfounded. In fact, I feel quite passionately that new graduates are still being given that negative message. As a company we should try to give the next generation the facts and engage them directly. It has been 20 years since I qualified from Guy’s Hospital. Since then, I have worked in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and across most areas of the profession, be it as a house officer in New Zealand, in NHS and private practices, or as a partner and an associate. At my current practice in the small market town of Woodbridge in Suffolk, we predominately perform NHS dentistry, but do offer a range of private services. With an interesting demographic of patients, we have the opportunity to utilise all our skills. We routinely see 25–30 patients a day and I am lucky that I work with a really great team and most of us have worked together for a while now. It is good to be with other people who understand the stress and strains of the job and can have a good laugh together at times. I work full time, so my days tend to be fairly similar. I start with a coffee then move on to checking day lists, patient records and laboratory work, etc. I hate surprises so I like to know what the day will hold. Most of my days are spent performing a mix of examinations and treatments, with the odd interesting case thrown in. I also offer facial aesthetic procedures and have recently been on the Denture Excellence course. It is great to be able to offer such a wide choice of treatment options to patients and the denture excellence has really taken off. It is an area I really enjoy, as a good denture can make so much difference to someone’s quality of life. I am hoping to undertake an implant restoration course soon as well, so I will be able to restore the implants placed by colleagues at local practices in the group. Since working for the company, I have become a mentor too, which has definitely been a highlight for me. It is a role I really enjoy, as after 20 years in the job, it is satisfying to pass on some of my experience to the younger generation. I had a great vocational training instructor when I started and I hope I can be as good to new associates as he was to me. It is a job that is mutually beneficial: it is extremely rewarding to see a mentee improve and gain in confidence and it does the same for the mentor. Within the company, we are fortunate to have a high level of support from practice and area managers through to clinical support managers and clinical directors. They are there to help prevent small problems from becoming larger ones. It is true that the red flags and key performance indicators can feel intrusive at times, but I do feel they are there to help clinicians above everything else. A visit from the clinical support manager should be seen as a positive thing and I am fortunate to have a great manager in my area. One thing I have learnt is that it can be lonely in the independent sector and there is no one looking out for you in the same way. I think the support network available is the real strength of corporate dentistry. Furthermore, we are incredibly fortunate to have the online academy and the reminder to complete CPD when it is required. This can be a burden for dentists and if there is any way to make it easier then we should be grateful. My practice manager keeps us up to date on when our CPD is due and the opportunity to complete it online is Continued on page 15 Taking brushing selfies could help improve oral health DT International O H I O , U S A / C H E N N A I , INDIA - Smartphone video selfies are a popular means of communication today and they are increasingly being used in the medical field to assess, monitor and determine the progression of disease. For the first time, the findings of a new study have suggested that recording video selfies while brushing could help patients improve their oral health care techniques, even within a short period. In the study, four dental student interns recorded five video selfies each while brushing at home over a period of 14 days using smartphones mounted on stands. At baseline, several surfaces within sextants were not being brushed— notably the lingual surfaces of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth and the palatal aspect of the right maxillary posterior sextant. After the intervention, all four participants had developed toothbrushing strokes that covered all their tooth surfaces. Overall, the researchers saw an i n c r e a s e i n t h e a c c u r a c y o f brushstrokes, an increase in number of strokes and an overall 8 percent improvement in toothbrushing skills. “Often, toothbrushing is learned and practiced without proper supervision,” said Dr. Lance T. Vernon, a senior instructor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and co-author of the study. “Changing toothbrushing behaviors—which are ingrained habits tied to muscle memory—can take a lot of time and guidance.” “Our study suggests that, in the future, recording these selfies can help shift some of this time investment in improving brushing to technology,” Vernon added. “Patients can then receive feedback from dental professionals.” Recording video selfies while brushing could help improve toothbrushing skills. The researchers concluded, however, that further investigation using a larger sample size is needed to thoroughly assess the effectiveness of this approach in order to improve toothbrushing skills and better understand the role of proactive interference (when learning a new behavior is hindered by knowledge and habits associated with an old behavior). The study, titled “Using smartphone video ‘selfies’ to monitor change in toothbrushing behavior after a brief intervention: A pilot study,” was published in the May/June issue of the Indian Journal of Dental Research. It was conducted at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine in Ohio in collaboration with the Ragas Dental College and Hospital in Chennai. NEWS Publisher/CEO Syed Hashim A. Hasan hashim@dental-tribune.com.pk Editor Clinical Research: Dr. Inayatullah Padhiar Editors Research & Public Health Prof. Dr. Ayyaz Ali Khan Editor - Online Haseeb Uddin Designing & Layouting Sh. M. Sadiq Ali Dental Tribune Pakistan 3rd floor, Mahmood Centre, BC-11, Block-9 Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan. Tel.: +92 21 35378440-2 | Fax: +92 21 35836940 www.dental-tribune.com.pk info@dental-tribune.com.pk Dental Tribune Pakistan cannot assume responsibility for the validity of product claims or for typographical errors. The publisher also does not assume responsibility for product names or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect of Dental Tribune Pakistan. 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Dental Tribune Pakistan Edition No.5, 2016

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