Meet
WINTHROP PROFESSOR
Paul Abbott ao
Winthrop Professor Paul Abbott needs no introduction within dental circles. A well-known and respected endodontist and educator, his contribution to UWA Dental School and to the continuing education of dentists and dental students is enormous. Paul is also a regular presenter of WA Dental CPD courses. We spoke to him about his extraordinary career.
As with all great careers, there is a beginning – and when asked why he decided to pursue dentistry, Paul says as a young boy he was always interested in the human body. “My family all suspected that I would do medicine and I guess I thought that way too but then as I got into high school, I liked the idea of the hands-on practical aspect of dentistry,” Paul recalls. “I also knew a few people doing dentistry and they were pretty happy with what they were doing and the course. I visited a couple of dental practices to see what dentists did and decided on dentistry because it was a mix of medicine and a very hands-on profession.” Paul graduated from The University of Western Australia in 1979 and after four years as a general practitioner, decided to specialise. “I am a strong believer in needing a good foundation of general practice before you specialise in anything,” he says. “Even now, if I was selecting people to do specialist training, if two people were equal in everything apart from general practice experience, I would go for the one who had more general practice experience. “One of the key things in endodontics is what happens to the tooth afterwards, because it has to be restored somehow. The decision-making around that is very subjective, but largely based on experience; not just experience of doing the restoration but seeing that restoration over time.” When asked why he decided to specialise in endodontics, Paul says he went through the process of considering orthodontics, paediatrics, and oral surgery – but kept coming back to endodontics. Additionally, there was only one endodontist in Perth at the time (Tony Sandler), so when Paul was selected to do the program at the University of Adelaide, he grabbed the opportunity. Part of the reason Paul wanted to specialise was so he could teach. “I always had an interest in teaching, even before doing dentistry,” he recalls.
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EDITION 7 | 2021 Western Articulator
