Introducing our new blog!
Welcome readers!
On behalf of the BC Society of Prosthodontists, I would like to introduce you to a new venture that we have started; a monthly blog where local prosthodontists will be writing brief articles that we hope both the general public and dental professionals will enjoy.
But...... what is a prosthodontist?
We are dental specialists who have taken additional training (usually 3 years) in all aspects of prosthetic dentistry, such as crowns, bridges, dental implants, and removable dentures, after the completion of a general dental degree. To become licensed as a certified specialist in prosthodontics in BC, dentists have to complete a university level specialty program, and pass a rigorous specialty licensing examination offered by the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. This is not a simple task!
In the dental community, prosthodontists often act as leaders and mentors in study clubs and continuing education courses for general dentists and dental specialists, we work at universities and hospitals teaching dental students and residents, we work on advisory committees in organised dentistry, and are an integral part of the support network for dentists and dental specialists by providing treatment and/or advice for their patients with advanced dental needs. Prosthodontists often coordinate the care and direct the treatment plans for patients who require the attention of multiple doctors. It is a challenging and rewarding specialty.
Our society is comprised of prosthodontists with a broad range of experience levels and interests. Some of us are well respected educators and lecturers, others are talented surgeons, we have doctors with extensive knowledge and experience in the laboratory aspects of dentistry, many of us have held important roles in the College of Dental Surgeons of BC, the BC Dental Association, and the Vancouver Dental Specialists Society, and we have members who are on the forefront of digital dental technology and dental implantology. The annual society meeting is consistently an entertaining and educational event where we gather to advance our specialty and to discuss current topics in dentistry. It was out of this that we have decided to put together this lecture series to educate readers about our little known specialty of prosthodontics.
With our diverse set of interests and backgrounds, we hope to be able to provide you with captivating and educational articles ranging from topics like sports dentistry and dental trauma, to the role of the prosthodontist in oral cancer treatments and hospital care. There is hardly a topic that we can not cover with the characters that fill the room at our annual events.
It is an exciting project for me to be a part of, and I do hope that it does succeed so we can continue to share with you what we do as dental specialists. If you read something that you have enjoyed or have found to be educational, please share it with your friends and colleagues; it would really show us that our efforts are being appreciated!
We would love for you to follow along!
Sincerely,
Dr. David P. Alfaro
Certified Specialist in Prosthodontics
President, BC Society of Prosthodontists, 2017-2018
