The forerunner of the American Dental Association, the "Society of Surgeon Dentists of the City and State of New York" was created out of a desperate need to educate practitioners and put down "all imposters and unprincipled quackery [which was rampant in the 17th and 18th centuries] by which the public and the profession at large are made to suffer". The organization fulfilled this need by establishing dental school education and by persuading the legislature to require graduation from dental school as a prerequisite for dental practice.
The founder of modern dentistry, G.V. Black, strongly believed that dental school education by itself was not enough. If dentistry was to be a truly `learned profession', he felt, dentists had a moral obligation to become a body of continuous scholars. ["Keeping Pace with Change: When the DDS is not Enough", Dr. Michael Heuer, American College of Dentists, Summer, 1988]. The reason, says Dr. Michael Heuer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Northwestern University Dental School, is "that patients are better served by an up-to-date current and skilled professional". It is every professional's duty to accept this moral responsibility to further his or her education.
In today's rapidly changing world, continuing education is more critical than ever before. The pace of technological advancement has quickened to the point where some estimate that all available knowledge doubles every five years. The professional who does not keep up quickly becomes antiquated. In fact, as the famous educator Mortimer Adler once remarked, if the graduate does not go on learning after school and out of school by himself through reading and with his fellow men [and women] through discussion, then he [or she] might just as well not have gone through school at all!" ["How to Read Great Books", by Mortimer Adler, Wisdom Magazine, March, 1960]
Certainly, today's public demands that practitioners be up-to-date. "Today's patient", notes Pat Muchmore, "is better informed than ever, sometimes misinformed. Patients receive newsletters from clinics, laboratories and obscure practitioners. They see TV celebrities interviewing experts about TMJ, bonding, bruxism appliances, dental implants and anti-cavity serum". ["The Case of the Missing Patients", by Pat Muchmore, Dental Economics, May, 1988]. Patients expect their dentist to know something about these treatments and be able to provide them. They are likely to go elsewhere if their dentist cannot provide the service they would like. "All of us are helpless", observes Dean Heuer, "in the face of a better product or service, or what is perceived to be a better product or service". Continuing education is the key to provide this better product or service, and the public benefits as well as the dentist.
In addition to facilitating better quality treatment, continuing education offers practitioners other advantages. It helps them become successful by instilling in them enthusiasm and boosting confidence in their abilities. "In any area of endeavor", says Dr. John Kennedy, "the success rate goes up with a combination of advanced training and experience. This is a self-feeding circuit. Additional education brings more success, which gives confidence, which makes the person more enthusiastic, which makes more people accept his or her services, which leads to the desire for more knowledge--and the cycle continues". ["Enthusiasm and Confidence play a Major Role", by Dr. John L. Kennedy, Dental Economics, August, 1989] Dr. Kennedy studied 13 successful practitioners and found all 13 to be constant students. All reported that they enjoyed dentistry most when they were taking continuing education courses. Nearly all agreed that "the linchpin of continuing education is a good study group". A study group is easily started and can provide inexpensive education to dentists with cash-flow difficulties. All 13 also felt that there are no fast-fixes for success in Dentistry that some practice management courses currently advocate. "No one lasts for long if they don't have it on the shelf", says Dr. Kennedy.
There is no doubt that most professionals agree when interviewed that continuing education is the best way for them to keep up and to get ahead. However, the reality is that only 10-20% of dentists not mandated to take courses actually pursue continuing education. Certainly there are abundant opportunities for education--far more opportunities exist here than in any other place in the world. Why is this so? Leon Gutterman, former editor of Wisdom Magazine, has the answer. "All wish to possess knowledge and education", he observes, "but few are willing to pay the price. Knowledge, like religion, must be experienced in order to be known. Real knowledge, like everything else of value, is not be obtained easily. It must be worked for, studied for, thought for and prayed for." [Wisdom Magazine; August, 1959]
Perhaps the best benefit of continuing education is that it allows us to make the most of our potential and to be the best that we can possibly be. Striving to reach our potential gives life special meaning and makes it worth living. Continuing education is, in essence, an investment in ourselves that pays handsome dividends. As Benjamin Franklin once remarked, "an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest".
