"In the "Medical Path Quotes" activity, we received such a quote."

(Because this doctor forgot to leave his contact information, we have not been able to convey our respect and thoughts to him. Dr. Zheng, if you see this tweet, I hope you can contact us. If possible, I hope you can help us tell him or contact him. )

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I personally think that the threshold of "qualified dentists" seems to be too low. Generally speaking, if you can solve the problems that patients care about without making too many mistakes, you will be qualified. Therefore, I raised the threshold without authorization and transformed the question into "How to become an excellent dentist"?

First of all, you must have empathy. Every time you see a patient, always treat yourself as a patient and put yourself in the shoes of the doctor to think about what help you would most want from the doctor if you were to see a doctor. This is very important. A doctor without empathy will not listen patiently to the patient's demands. They will have preconceived ideas and then make a wrong diagnosis. At the same time, listen patiently and speculate on the patient's psychological activities. For example, if the patient is very eager to do pulp preservation treatment, and the tooth still has the possibility of pulp preservation, then after informing the patient of the possibility of failure and confirming that the patient understands, pulp preservation treatment should be tried first instead of direct root canal treatment. This helps to build a good doctor-patient relationship, which is very helpful for subsequent treatment and even the reputation of your career.

Secondly, in the clinic, you are a detective. You build a huge clue network through the keywords in the patient's description and the clues of the clinical examination. Based on your solid basic knowledge, you can get all possible diagnoses and differential diagnoses, exclude them in order, and get the correct treatment plan. To achieve this, you need: solid basic knowledge. Since you have entered the internship period, I would suggest that you establish your interest direction as soon as possible during the internship (orthodontics, endodontics, restoration, etc.). I am not opposed to developing in the general practice, but before developing, I would suggest choosing a direction as your specialty in your future career. After establishing the direction, firmly grasp the basic knowledge in this area, and extend it outward and read classic books in this area. For example, as an endodontist, the road to endodontics is a must. If you want to become a qualified or excellent dentist, the amount of knowledge in undergraduate textbooks is far from enough. Read a lot of foreign literature, and each diagnosis or treatment plan must be based on evidence. I am very opposed to empiricists, because everyone's experience can be different, resulting in a variety of treatment plans. In my opinion, scientific evidence is the basis for your entire treatment plan.

In my graduate studies, every time I report on the diagnosis and treatment plan, the teacher will ask what the basis is, which literature clearly allows you to say so, please state the author name and year of this literature. This is to ensure that you are not practicing your treatment according to your feelings, or not because everyone does it so I do it. You must be very clear about the reason why you do it. Only in this way can you make your treatment more likely to succeed. Therefore, you must get used to reading foreign literature. Pubmed or scihub are very good literature review websites. Remember the names of the big names in the profession you are interested in, or read those highly cited literature, you will benefit a lot. The treatment plan must be logical, and all aspects of the needs must be taken into account. For example, a case of crown fracture after root canal treatment, exposed gutta-percha cusp and accompanied by periapical shadows. The most important thing in such a case is to check the cause. Is it due to trauma? Or is it because of occlusal trauma? Why did the patient's crown suddenly break? Is it because of too much grinding during the previous treatment? These are closely related to the prognosis of the tooth. Teeth with occlusal trauma first need to check the temporomandibular joint, check the occlusal relationship, and even check whether the opposing teeth have periapical inflammation due to occlusal trauma? When planning the treatment, you also need to consider whether the patient has aesthetic needs, and whether a temporary crown is needed for transition? If necessary, then you must take a mold and make a wax model before treatment. The treatment plan of an excellent dentist must be progressive. Don't find out halfway through the treatment that, oh, I forgot to consider the patient's needs in this regard. At this time, asking the patient's opinion will not only make you busy, but also leave the patient with the impression that you are not professional enough. The correct treatment plan is very important. Without this knowledge reserve, you are just a dental technician. Let's talk about skills when you can independently complete the formulation of an excellent treatment plan.

In my opinion, the questioner has just entered the internship period, and it is difficult to achieve proficient skills in a short period of time. This aspect mainly requires time accumulation. However, the questioner can apply to the teacher for more clinical hands-on opportunities. Don't be afraid of mistakes, but be careful. Ask the teacher for advice or ask the teacher to take a look during treatment. No one will laugh at you. Remember to think more about the teacher's reasons for doing so. If you don't understand, ask, but don't ask stupid questions that are clearly in the textbook. As a dentist, aesthetic ability is also very important. This aspect can only rely on the questioner himself. If you have the ability, you can learn something about art, or look at more excellent cases done by others. When I was an undergraduate, the art atmosphere of the college was very strong, and everyone would master at least one talent. Because our then dean Zhou Xuedong believed that art can help cultivate the sentiments of dentists, improve aesthetics, and let them know how to remove the pressure of patients, so as to achieve perfect treatment results. I thought of so much on the subway for the time being. I was confused when I was an undergraduate, and I believe everyone has such a stage. The questioner does not need to worry too much. In any case, it must be right to read more literature. The amount of reading has increased, the horizons have been broadened, and I have become more confident. Communication with patients will be smoother, and patients will trust you more. At the same time, keep a humble heart and take some online courses in time when you are tired of reading.

If the above points can be achieved, I believe that the questioner can not only become a qualified dentist, but also an excellent dentist.