From General Dentistry to Endodontics: A Journey of Specialization

The problem I found with endodontics was that the more you learn, the less you can cut corners, and the longer it ends up taking! I was keen to learn how to be more efficient with endodontics so I brought on Dr Omar Ikram to talk us through his sequencing and protocols for RCTS. Turn those challenging appointments into seamless, lunchtime-friendly successes. Follow @specialistendo on Instagram to keep up to date with Dr. Ikram’s endo-endeavours! https://youtu.be/yHoiX4gijpQ Watch PDP163 on Youtube Need to Read it? Check out the Full Episode Transcript below! Download the EndoPrep app for access to: Online study guides Links to free webinars An MB2 guide An endodontic calculator tool And so much more! If you liked this episode, you will also like PDP133 - Pulpotomies for Irreversible Pulpitis? Did you know? You can get CPD from the Web App or Phone App and watch premium clinical videos, for less than a tax deductible Nando’s per month? Click below for full episode transcript: Jaz's Introduction: When I qualified from dental school, I was really into restorative, but the part of restorative I was most into was actually endodontics. In fact, I actually did quite a lot of root canals when I was a dental student. Jaz's Introduction:And the funny story is that because of orthodontics, I actually lost vitality of my four lower incisors.I had root canals from specialists for all my lower four incisors. So I actually experienced root canal treatment as a patient while I was a dental student. And also having really inspirational tutor and someone called Dr. Stephen Godfrey at dental school meant that I was actually really looking at these postgraduate options for specializing in endodontics as one of my serious career considerations. I went on to win the Tom Pitt-Ford prize, which is given to like one student per dental school every year. And I also won like this runner up prize in the Julian Webber Harley Street prize. And I was basically about submitting a case. And I did an MTA case back when I was a DCT in Sheffield. That was pretty cool. Using a scope, learning how to do simple retreatments. So I was on the path to really consider endodontics. Now fast forward 10 years. And my favorite type of endodontics is the referral pad. Okay, I'm joking but I'm kind of not joking because it's not my favorite thing to do anymore. I do TMD, I do restorative, I do occlusal stuff, tooth wear, and I get a lot of joy from that. Root canals is low down in my pecking order and one of the reasons I'm so keen to refer to my specialist colleagues is how long it takes me and I'm thinking if this tooth is going to take two hours with me and it's going to take one hour and 15 minutes with the specialist and they'll probably do a better job than I will. Then it just makes sense to see a specialist, right? If the patient can afford it, great. And also, in terms of an hourly rate, like GDPs doing endodontics that are particularly tricky and pushing boundaries and spending longer on it, it just doesn't make sense as a financial point of view. Because if your patient is paying for your time, then they may end up paying you more than the endodontist. And that just is bizarre. That should never happen, right? So I'm more than happy to rely on my endodontic colleagues. The way that this ties in to the superstar guest that we have today, Dr. Omar Ikram, who I'm sure many of you know of. He's very prolific on social media. He puts out such good stuff to the world in terms of being helpful in our endodontic treatments. He's very giving with his time and knowledge. So it's a great pleasure to have on Dr. Omar Ikram today. And I was thinking, what could I ask him? There's so many different topics that we could ask him. There's some topics I've already covered on the show when it comes to endodontics. And I thought it'd be a really good one about how to make root canals more efficient.