Comments on: Doing reps

By: Ronald Reza

Ronald Reza — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 07:24:32 +0000

Experience is so vital in the field of medicine. You’ll get to know what all are needed for a dental procedure. All the small talks i had, during patient visits, with the dentists at Centenary Dental Toronto, Canada, they told me the most important thing that a dentist should have is – the instinct that tells you what to do and what not to do during dental procedure can only come with experience.

By: Drew

Drew — Wed, 20 May 2015 19:23:54 +0000

Practice makes perfect I suppose. Thanks for sharing this great article!

By: emergency dentist

emergency dentist — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 01:17:20 +0000

Do you know Alan in real life?

By: N. M. P.

N. M. P. — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:59:11 +0000

Hi!

I stumbled upon your blog as I was reading physicians blogs tonight. I wondered “will there be any dentists blogs?” and voilá, I found yours.

I am a dental resident at a hospital in New Jersey and I find your article very true. I, as a recent dental graduate, feel the need to expand my experience in the safety of a residency. Hopefully, this will give me the confidence I need to tackle the real world when I get into a private practice. Keep blogging, your wisdom is not lost on the vast cyberspace. Dentists are watching!

By: M. White Dental

M. White Dental — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 01:06:40 +0000

Hi Alan, your article makes total sense. Hand on experience is very useful. I’m sure you’re a great dentist!

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 00:17:08 +0000

Hi Alan,

I just wanted to say this was a delight to read. Do you still get nervous when you are operating on your patients? I’d imagine that after all your work, you’d feel confident but are there times in which you still get nervous? Like is there a specific routine or procedure which gives you the shivers to do?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 16:07:59 +0000

Alan,

I guess you move on and improve how you do things from the early days to present, its exactly the same for me.

By: Brian K. Van Netta, DDS

Brian K. Van Netta, DDS — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 20:14:05 +0000

What a beautifully written piece. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve been in practice 27 years and sometimes still feel ashamed when I reflect on how ignorant and cocky I was right out of the chute. The only thing that probably kept us going at that time was not knowing just exactly how much we did not know. The sanitized bubble of dental school only gives us the bare minimum knowledge to obtain state licensure, but in no way fully prepares us for the real world of dental care. As you have pointed out, only time and practice can do this. With the paradigm of dental delivery systems that are emerging today, I’m afraid the lost art of mentoring is all but extinct. And as an important aside, when a fresh graduate is turned lose in a corporate setting requiring quotas that far exceed his or her abilities at that time, horrific mistakes can be made. Just something to think about.

By: Matt S

Matt S — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 21:12:39 +0000

Whatever Al. I’ve been perfect since day 1.

But really, you are correct. Some of the stuff from 5 years ago makes me cringe. Interesting to see what the next 5 will bring.