SDDSNY Bulletin July/August 2021

Ms. Gibbons grabbed her coat, adjusted her mask and headed for the front desk only a few strides ahead of me. She then suddenly turned around and said, “Please call my dentist; I have an appoint- ment tomorrow and would like if you could speak to him before.” “Sure, I’ll call him later this after- noon and we’ll discuss the whole treatment plan,” I said. Sitting at my desk, I picked up the phone and called Dr. Pastime. Dr. P. is a general dentist who has been practicing for about 20 years and occasionally refers patients over for periodontal treatment. I remember past conversations we had early in his career that impressed me with his contempo- rary dental knowledge. Today, as we reviewed our mutual patient’s treatment, I was a little concerned about the course of action Dr. P. wanted to take, especially since it was not current thinking. So, I delicately asked him to explain his reasoning. Dr. Pastime proudly and emphatically said, “But I learned it in dental school…” At this point my mind just held on to those words and struggled to accept them.When I finally started listen- ing again, Dr. P. was exaltedly tell- ing me about his teacher from his general practice residency (GPR) program, the great Dr. Thought Leader, who said... actually, I’mnot sure exactly what he said because I must have stopped listening again. As he pontificated on about his great mentor and the wealth of knowledge he learned at the time, taken aback, my eyebrows furrowed andmy forehead creased as I concentrated on his rationale. Yes, I was happy he had a mentor that meant so much and taught him well. However, that was 20 years ago! I wanted to blurt out, “Do you know what he says today?” After this disturbing exchange I contacted Dr. Dennis Tarnow, who has mentored hundreds, if not thousands of dentists over the course of his career and is a well- respected and well-known leader in dentistry, especially dental implan- tology. Dr. Tarnow was born in Brooklyn and went to Brooklyn College, and is very approachable. First, I was curious how many implants, sinus lifts and connec- tive tissue grafts he did in dental school or in his early residency training at Brookdale Hospital and in his periodontal and prosthodon- tic specialty training. Dr. Tarnow responded, “None, none and none. Most of these procedures were devised after my dental school and specialty training in 1972 to 1978.” So, if not for continuing education courses or learning from other sources, Dr. Tarnow would never have known how to do any of them. “For sure, most of what I do every day in my private office was not included in my training,” Dr. Tarnow elaborated. Continuing education (CE) is one of the keys to a success- ful dental career. This notion of furthering your education tomain- tain your knowledge is now nation- ally accepted. CE is so important that New York State began requir- ing CE for licensure renewal back in 1996, which was increased from 45 to 60 credit hours in 2008. The first state to require CE happened to be Minnesota 27 years earlier (1969); at the time, Minnesotan dentists were required to complete 75 hours of CE every five years to renew their registration. All dental specialties have also imposed some form of CE for maintaining their diplomate status or recertification. Periodontics may have been the first specialty for which dentists were required to complete CE for maintenance of their board certifi- cationwith a requirement of 15CE, which with the help of ADA archi- vist Andrea Matlack, we traced as far back as 1991. Prosthodontics followed in 1996 necessitating 40 CE credits during an 8-year period for their recertification. Today CE is readily available and provided by the ADA, the New York State Dental Association and Second District Dental Society, along with the rest of the country’s state and local dental organizations, specialty societies, dental schools and other for-profit and nonprofit dental groups. Virtual CE has also flourished over the pandemic with new easily accessible plat- forms. However, as all wet gloved dentists know, hands-on training But I Learned It in Dental School by Stuart L. Segelnick, D.D.S., M.S., SDDS Bulletin Editor for certain clinical applications is critical. Attending dental conven- tions such as the ADA’s SmileCon, which will be held this October in Las Vegas, and our very own Greater New York Dental Meet- ing this November at the Jacob K. Javits Center in NYC, will offer an amazing array of CE from the virtual to the physical. The knowledge, skill and art of dentistry is initially learned in dental school and residency programs; however, to main- tain your competency in modern dentistry, continuing education is mandatory. It is not enough to rely on your early training days to prac- tice proficiently today. Mastering dentistry is about constant learn- ing and improving to stay current. Take a few minutes to call your favorite mentor and renowned educator from your dental school and residency years and ask them how much of what they taught you clinically they are still teaching today. I know they will be glad you reached out, and hopefully pleased how you have evolved. 4 SDDS BULLETIN July/August 2021 — VOLUME 38 ◊ NUMBER 4