At first I was going to title this column “What they don’t teach you in dental school.”
However, there are a lot of dental schools out there and I’m sure if you combined all of the facts and knowledge presented to dental students by all of the schools, it probably covers a very wide range of thought.
Some of the knowledge presented in dental school is outdated as well. I talk to colleagues now and the consensus is they no longer use over 90% of what they learned in dental school, likely including the sometimes debated importance of flossing.
I’m sure it’s the same with medical school and I guess that’s why they call it “practice.”
I usually incorporate half a dozen new ideas into my practice after every continuing education course I attend.
Not necessarily big changes, but improvements I believe.
I’m presenting this article and maintaining this column because part of my goal is to help people appreciate and understand dentistry and their dentist a little bit more. I chose this topic because I find myself more and more telling patients; they don’t teach you this in dental school. I’m sure schools now teach more modern techniques than when I was in dental school, that saying will always ring true.
Happy flossing.
