Esthetic vs. Prosthodontic Residencies

[drhobie7]

I was curious if anyone had opinions about training with the goal of doing esthetic dentistry. There are a few esthetic "residencies" (non-accredited b/c esthetics is obviously not a specialty) in the US: UCLA and NYU are the ones I know of. I wonder if you get a similar education in complex reconstruction that you get in Pros.

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[GQ1]

I was curious if anyone had opinions about training with the goal of doing esthetic dentistry. There are a few esthetic "residencies" (non-accredited b/c esthetics is obviously not a specialty) in the US: UCLA and NYU are the ones I know of. I wonder if you get a similar education in complex reconstruction that you get in Pros.

no. one its not pros but 2 the main reason is if you look at a complex pros case once you ve had the surgeries, (grafting and implants) performed this has taken a good 9 to 12 months then you have to spend time working thru the provisional, eg. a c & b case - speech, vdo, shaping emergence profile with the temp, esthetics. figure in 9 to 12 weeks in the lab after you re set on everything and even if you start a case on your first day you wont finish in a year.

if its a bar case reconstrution like a hybrid have to work out if you have room for the bar and teeth maybe try a provisional hybrid.


unlike endo, ortho, pedo there are no 2 yr pros programs just because you need all 3 years. with the greater scope of procedures pros perform and needing to understand each specialty to tx plan theres more to cover in pros than in other school based specialties.


i think due to the lack of pros faculty in most of the programs and the limitation of only having 1 to 2 years esthetic programs arent an option for complex education in pros, but for veneers and composites they may be great.

 

[Dr. Pedo]

I also think you have to decide what you really want to do. I know a successful esthetic dentist who is not a prosth. but through his own learning (18+yrs) he takes cases some prosth dds don't even want. bottom line----do you want to take several years learning on your own trying to build a practice with little knowledge while you attend C.E. courses or LVI----possibly losing patients-----or spend 3 yrs compacting the info so that you can build an esthetic practice. People have been successful both ways---but with the demands of esthetics you really have to have skills and knowledge. You don't have to be a prosth. to have an esthetic practice but most of the rehab/reconstructive-big-money esthetic cases nearly require extensive prosth knowledge or degree.

Dr.B

 

[UConn_SDM]

I'm too jaded by my pros experience to comment intelligently. This is not directed at any one person and or one school and is solely based on my limited experience with Pros at my school:

Grad Pros Degree = PhD in wasting time.

They argue they do it the correct way....I argue obsessing about how well the already well sanded land areas are sanded on your casts is a waste of time.

 

[drhobie7]

UCONN that was very amusing. I feel your pain. The pros dept at my school is notorious. 10% of my class has to retake the year long denture class with the 2nd years below us. Grim.

Do any of you work in esthetic practices? I'm curious how the day to day experience differs from general practice. I've heard esthetic patients are a bigger pain in the ass. Also, what's the difference between esthetics and GP. Number of esthetic cases? Kind of a philosophical question, perhaps?

Have a good day.

 

[GQ1]

UCONN that was very amusing. I feel your pain. The pros dept at my school is notorious. 10% of my class has to retake the year long denture class with the 2nd years below us. Grim.

Do any of you work in esthetic practices? I'm curious how the day to day experience differs from general practice. I've heard esthetic patients are a bigger pain in the ass. Also, what's the difference between esthetics and GP. Number of esthetic cases? Kind of a philosophical question, perhaps?

Have a good day.

il agree with you there. as a dental student most pros faculty do a good job at making you lose interest in the specialy. some even say they aim for this to weed out the weaker ones. like surgeons they are notoriously arrogant and they make you sweat the small stuff which is counter productive. once you get into residency you learn what they want in terms of accuracy in the first 2 or 3 months in the lab intro courses so after that you ve got the techniques down - but whats the point in doing a residency if its not tough and you could of learnt it at weekend courses.

esthetic pts can be a pain in the butt as with the money theyre paying they could buy a luxury car. but the advantage is job satisfaction and you only need to see a few pts a day which reduces stress and receive a small number of new pts a month.