Your career as a dental practitioner was not without challenges and to reach your current professional level and have your own practice, you were required to make sacrifices and spend a good chunk of your youth studying for a BDS or BChD from a reputable UK-recognised institution. Are you involved in private dentistry, did you complete your one-year foundation training and have you registered with the GDC? In that case, the next step in your professional development should be to invest in some postgraduate dental courses in aesthetic & restorative dentistry, orthodontics & dentofacial orthopaedics or dental implantology & oral surgery.
Why do such a thing? First of all, think of the potential benefits to your reputation as a clinician. By investing in dental courses, you will gain specialised skills that go beyond your formal training as a general dentist. You will learn advanced techniques related to implantology and complex maxillofacial surgeries, you will learn everything about implant placement and bone grafting and most importantly, you will perfect your already pristine skills, keep up with medical advancements and make connections with dental professionals with years of experience in this medical domain.
What Are the Main Financial Benefits?
It’s all about expanding your dental services. Let’s say, for example, that you complete a 12-month course and at the end of it you obtain a PG Dip in implantology, which will permit you to offer dental implants at a rate in line with the market average. For the UK, you could technically charge around £2,000 per implant, or even more for cases in which bone grafts are necessary. A £10,000 investment in the course you complete could be recuperated in less than a week or two if your dental practice is situated in an area with a large influx of customPursuits
By going for 12-month postgraduate dental courses, you can expand your service offerings and learn new, sort-of-novel treatments like Invisalign, which might fetch a price of £3,500 per patient. Plus, you must also consider the boost that such dental courses will have on your overall bookings. Do you want to attract a higher patient turnover and increase the long-term ROI of your services? In that case, the best way to go about it is to reduce your external referrals and increase the number of dental treatments you can provide to local customers.
What Will Be Covered in These Courses?
It really depends on what you’re going for. A PG Dip in implantology will cover different modules than a course focusing on aesthetic and restorative dentistry. However, as a general rule, during postgraduate dental courses you will learn how to interpret CBCT, go over the basics of restorative integration of implants that require bone grafts, you will once again become familiar with the anatomy of the maxillary region and you will be shown the right techniques for implant placements and dental extractions.
The modules of the course you’re going for will typically be divided into six subsections, each covering around two months’ worth of information. During the 12 months of the in-depth dental courses, you will learn how to minimize the complications associated with oral surgery, go over the different types of implants for each particular dental procedure, become familiar with techniques for alveolar augmentation and be part of live workshops, in which trained professionals will give 1:1 information relevant for the practice you want to invest your time in.
What Are the Benefits of Online Postgraduate Dental Courses?
Let’s start with the foundation: flexibility. Since you are probably operating your own dental practice, your free time is most likely a precious commodity, and you don’t really have the luxury to invest in offline training programs, held in external locations. With online postgraduate dental courses, you can replay the modules as often as you want, learn at your own pace, and watch the lectures presented by the course professionals in your free time, for as long as you want. Going for online dental courses is simply more convenient, and it represents a fantastic way to gain access to connection opportunities with specialists from different dentistry branches.
You are not based in London? Then, that shouldn’t be a problem, as online courses are designed to fit the needs of both individuals living in large UK cities and dental practitioners trying to make a living in small, rural communities. Have you just started your practice in a small village in Lancashire? Then, perhaps your best chance for postgraduate professional development is to invest in online courses. The process will not be fully online, though. Most online courses will provide practice kits for procedures that require a hands-on approach, and these kits will be delivered directly to your location.
A Way to Further Your Educational Pursuits
Obtaining a PG Dip is not exactly an easy task. You will be required to browse modules that will test your skills, obtain passing grades in at least three separate tests, and show enough practical proficiency to systematically build your techniques as a dentist. That said, at the end of the 12 months, you will obtain a diploma that will be accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and that will be equivalent to a Master’s Degree. Things are, however, different if you are simply opting for a weekend workshop. Are they useful? Sure, but they are only focusing on a single skill, and most often than not, they cannot be suitable for your long-term career development.
Plus, think of the benefits for your patients. Ultimately, a postgraduate dental course represents a way for you to become a better dentist, reduce the chances of complications post oral surgeries, and learn new skills and procedures that will help you provide better services to your clients. It’s not always about the long-term profits or the academic benefits. At the end of the day, dental courses are an efficient and cost-friendly way for you to become an excellent dental practitioner and continue your professional development in a well-structured manner.
