Becoming a complete, optimally successful dentist means making the move from focusing on high-volume, bite-sized dentistry to diagnosing and performing more complex and fulfilling cases. But of course, complex dentistry today is very complex, and it often involves more than one practitioner.

You would have to be in school for 20 years to learn everything there is to know in all the dental specialties. That's why great dentistry today is often built on great alignment between the restorative dentist, the specialist and the patient.

But alignment doesn't come automatically. Any time you have two doctors, practices and teams with two different mindsets serving one patient, you have the potential for misalignment when it comes to values and ultimate goals.

I have heard the issues on both sides; specialists will say that the referring doctor sends patients who are unprepared and under-informed, and without all the necessary background and information. GPs might say that the specialist is sending patients back without a complete update on the treatment they performed and how it fits with the patient's larger goals and so on.

As long as the future of great dentistry is going to be built on a model of interdisciplinary care - and that future is already here - these are issues all practitioners simply have to learn to get past in order to grow and to offer patients the best care possible. And these issues are all very solvable.

The best thing a restorative dentist can do to grow is to open up the channels of communication with their specialists. You can do that one-on-one, or you can do it in a more structured way, through things like study clubs. Discover each other's strengths and address each other's concerns. Learn to deliver comprehensive care together. Do what it takes to align yourself clinically and create value together as a team.

Great dentistry today demands great teamwork. That is the biggest secret to having great success with those complex cases that drive growth and value.


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