Last year I celebrated a 40 years from graduation reunion with my dental classmates from Otago University. It was a wonderful occasion getting to reconnect with my classmates and helped me reaffirm the reason I took up the profession of Dentistry.
A great number of these colleagues are still active
within the profession and it was incredible to observe how many of us are still stimulated and enthusiastic about Dentistry.
Since the reunion I have had time to reflect on what drives myself to retain the passion I have for Dentistry. The answer is simple – our patients, the amazing associate Dentists and Hygienists that work in my Practice, and the challenges that are presented to us in our workday.
There is no doubt that the dental profession has a huge amount of work to do as dental disease is the most prevalent irreversible disease in New Zealand with approximately 50% of our adult population not receiving regular dental care.
There are a variety of reasons why dental disease is so prevalent including;