DAS President’s Letter

Dentistry is a lot like an Eric Church song:

Some of it, you learn the hard way; Some of it, you read on a page; Some of it, comes with heartbreak; Most of it comes with age. The Hard Way—Trial and Error. Figure it out on your own. The first way most of us learn as children. The best successes started with many failures.

Read on a Page—You are probably a bit tired of this, having been doing it for the vast majority of your lives. Countless books full of wisdom and information have been written. Never stop learning.

Heartbreak—the inevitable part of life. You will grow close to others in this career and it ends at some point.

Age—Time and experience will guide you. You learn as time goes on that a lot of what the elder generations say is true. You also learn you can’t take everything as truth, even if you read it. You don’t know for sure until you experience some of these things on your own. You may look back with regret that you should have listened. You may look back grateful for the advice given. I hope you all will listen and take some of my advice to you. I am not necessarily old by world standards, but I have been blessed with great mentors, colleagues, family, and friends. My recommendations are as follows:

I challenge you all to find your “Why?” It is really a simple question that we all began to ask early in our lives. It is how your mind grows. Why did you become a dentist in the first place? What is your purpose and intention for the day? It is sometimes a moving target (and will grow and change as you grow), but it will help guide you. If you lose sight of “Why?”, dentistry can just become a job, not a career. If your intention is one of joy, to truly help those around you, you can never really fail. You have no need for fear, nor anxiety. Keep moving forward towards your “Why” every day and you will always have a sense of direction. Your “Why” can and will change as you grow personally and professionally.

I also challenge you to look for the Truth. The truth is something once you see, you cannot unsee it. In clinical dentistry, I have been blessed with opportunities to learn from some great dentists throughout my career. I was taught to never settle for answers that don’t have a solid explanation. You will find and be bombarded by the next and latest/greatest technology that will make you into a “super dentist” and you’ll make so much money. Guess what, you and your patients, as human beings, are far greater than any technology ever invented, or that will ever be invented. As precise as dentistry is, you can never do anything as perfect as the human body’s ability to heal and adapt. Don’t lose sight of that, but use it to your advantage. If some product or technique doesn’t make sense to you, question it. Ask “Why?” You are all generally experts in biology and physiology at this point. The truth is always that: True. Biology and physiology are true, so let that guide you as a clinician to provide the best possible outcome for each individual patient. That being said, the technology today is pretty awesome! It will definitely enhance the care you can provide, but is not a substitute for thinking and problem solving.

God Bless and Go Bucks!