What makes a good Dentist?

What makes a good dentist?

As a dentist, your role as a member of the healthcare team is extremely varied from having to carry out treatments in a very small space using sharp, precise instruments, to having to deal with difficult patients, to educating the public about the systemic, as well as oral health. In this article, I am not only going to explain to you some of the most important skills and attributes of a dentist, but also why these are so important. Additionally, I’m going to give you some examples and explain how you can develop and show evidence of these skills; this will become invaluable later on in the application process, especially in the personal statement and your interviews. 

Interpersonal skills

When thinking about dentists in terms of what qualities they have, one of the first things that should come to mind is their interpersonal skills. Dentists must communicate effectively with a wide range of people, but this comes in two categories: patients, and colleagues. When it comes to communicating with patients, a dentist’s demeanour is a crucial factor in whether their patients are nervous about getting dental treatments, and ultimately whether they take care of their oral health. You must be able to build a rapport with your patients and establish trust, so that they become comfortable telling you about their oral, and their systemic health. Did you know that 90 % of diseases have oral manifestations, so as a dentist, you must pick up on these, and with the patient’s trust this process becomes much easier! Additionally, it is vital that you can explain your diagnoses and treatment options and plans to your patients in a way that they would understand, as they will most likely have very limited dental knowledge. 

Strong communication ability

On the other hand, communicating with colleagues is a slightly different skill, requiring less empathy, and more professionalism and efficiency, although you must build trust with them as well. You want to work with the dental team in the most cohesive way possible to optimise for the best patient experience (notice how the patient’s experience, and their view of the dental profession are paramount).

To build upon these skills, it is best that you join any kind of extra-curricular activity involving working with/ or serving others. This can include working in a school or joining a sports team. When doing so, it is important to remember to try and put yourself out there and expose yourself to as many interactions with others as possible, as this will give you chances to actively improve your communication.

Good Manual Dexterity 

You knew this one was coming; as you would expect, dentists, once graduated, will have excellent hand eye coordination, and manual precision and dexterity, and this will have come from spending years developing these skills in university. However, this is only necessary “once graduated” as I said above, and you will not be expected to be naturally “talented” when using your hands. I personally do not believe in talent; those around you who you may see as talented, at art for example, have simply spent more time developing their art skills, or other skills that are transferrable to art, and this has allowed them to gain what seems to be an edge over you. Essentially, there is no such thing as talent, only discipline! 

I stressed this previous point because a common misconception among applicants is that they must already be a skilled artist, or a piano prodigy, all before applying. The reality is that the reason you spend 5 years in university is to hone these skills, so do not let that discourage you from applying!

Understanding the value of developing your manual dexterity can prove to be an asset in your application, so that is something I recommend you do. This can include learning to play and instrument like the guitar for example, or doing something more artistic like carving, painting or even cake decorating! 

Another benefit of trying a new hobby like this is to see if a career in dentistry is really for you. What I mean by this is that I you really hate working with your hands, then that is something to think about before applying, rather than thinking that you’re not good at any particular skills that you haven’t spent time improving and using that as reason not to pursue dentistry. 

Reflection

This, in my opinion, is the most important skill of any dentist, and it is often overlooked. Dentists are life-long learners, and they must always accept that their work needs improvement and be able to adapt and make those necessary adjustments, whether they are students, newly qualified dentists, or even world-renowned specialists! It is crucial that they develop the growth mindset and always look to analyse and critique their work, as well as acknowledging what went well and celebrating that as well! 

This is one of the few skills that, in my opinion, you must begin to work on building before you start your journey as a dentist. To do so, simply take any of the actionable examples I mentioned above whether that is being the captain of a sports team, learning the piano, or starting your own business, and aim to record your experiences and progress. This can be in the form of a journal, videos, or an Excel spreadsheet! Doing this will undoubtedly accelerate your progress, as it will allow you to reflect on those experiences so you can improve. Additionally, the record that you keep can be used when applying to evidence your work. This skill is genuinely a superpower, and it can be transferred from any discipline to the next, which is why it is also so easy to learn and develop!

To conclude, if you want to take away one thing from this article, it is that dentists are very skilled individuals, who must always reflect on their progress and their work, and as an applicant, this reflection can be done with almost anything that you do! 

If you have any further questions related to this topic, or about the application process in general, send us an email to hello@iwanttobeadentist.com , or DM us @iwanttobeadentist on Instagram, or you can DM me personally @omar_dental_ on Instagram.