What can dental technicians learn from dentists?

As a dental technician, you work closely with dentists every day. This relationship is not always ideal. Only a partnership on equal terms can lead to good results.

Can you, as a dental technician, learn something from your dentist - and therefore become even better? In this article, please read the suggestions that Vincent Fehmer, Master Dental Technician, (Geneva/Switzerland) has for you.

Differences in training

Vincent Fehmer: First of all, dental technicians can learn from dentists - and that is to continuously educate themselves further. Dentists have an advantage over dental technicians: They have to consistently take part in further training and keep up to date. They are legally obliged to do so. They have to submit supporting certificates as proof.

With dental technicians it is different: This is not required. This is the reason why there are enormous differences among dental technicians: Some of them take the initiative and attend training courses themselves and have the financial resources to do so, while unfortunately many of our colleagues are very reluctant to accept the wide range of further education available. In this case, of course, it is quite clear that the financial pressure is much greater and the daily work in the laboratory, especially for an employed dental technician, is very high. Something can – and should – be changed urgently.

Objective: Contact partner on equal terms

The reason for this is easy to explain: The more digitization, the more important it becomes for dental technicians to maintain a reliable relationship with the dentist.  It is not enough to just browse through specialist articles - it’s important to exchange ideas with colleagues and understand what dentists read. This is the only way that dental technicians can understand how dentists work and what they are focused on.

I’ll name an example. Questions asked about a particular restoration: Which system should we use? Why? What advantages does this have and what are the risks? These are the types of questions the dental technician should be able to answer if he wants to be an equal and respected partner with the dentist and not simply the provider of a service.

A clear advantage with materials

The fact is: There are areas in which we dental technicians have great advantages, for example with our knowledge of materials. This is where we are able to advise the dentists, and prove our expertise.

Personal information: Vincent Fehmer, Master Dental Technician, works at the University of Geneva. He also runs his own dental laboratory in Lausanne (both in Switzerland). He successfully completed his apprenticeship in dental technology from1998 to2002 in Stuttgart/Germany. Amongst other places, he has also worked in dental laboratories in Great Britain and in the USA.

Success through close cooperation: These are the key factors in the successful collaboration with dentists.