Attention to detail

If there was one criticism that was a constant theme from demonstrators throughout uni was my lack of attention to detail. For example, when I restored a tooth in composite I would leave flash and rough areas everywhere and would have no attempt at anatomy. I think this arose due to a few reasons:

- I couldn't see what I was doing. I was trying to simultaneously have good posture and see what I was doing. This is impossible, magnification is needed to see what you are doing and do a good job.
-I didn't understand what I was trying to achieve in a procedure. I thought a filling was a filling and that a rough filling was the same as a smooth filling as long as it filled the gap that was made after caries removal. I didn't understand that just because the patient is happy with the work doesn't mean that I should be. I wasn't striving for excellence.
- I didn't care about what I was doing. I did care about patient outcomes but I didn't see the correlation of substandard work and long term failures because I didn't have any long term cases to follow up. So when a procedure came around I did the bare minimum that was required to finish it and didn't go the extra mile to achieve an excellent result.
-I didn't know what good dentistry looked like. The more I've practiced and the more courses I attend I have seen what quality looks like and it gives me a goal to strive towards. We are all capable of excellence if we take slow steps and have a desire to do better. The more techniques you learn the more able you are to do complex dentistry but it is too true that you need a firm grasp of the basics before you can proceed to complex work. Some people will try to run before they can walk and they may fall flat on their face or succeed. I still learn things that teach me that the basics are not so basic and there is much more detail involved in "simple dentistry"
- I didn't think I was capable of excellence. I can't say that I am an excellent dentist. I can't even say that I am a good dentist. All I can say is that I continue to improve. Without recording my work of the years in photography I would not have been able to see the quality of my work slowly improve. It is easy for me to critisise my past self and my recent graduate colleagues but that is only because I have learned to demand more from myself and my colleagues. I don't think improvement is out of anyone's reach.