questions about perio

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Imanm

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I am about to apply to perio. When talking to General dentists that I know, a lot of them say that Perio is not a good choice and is slowly cycling out as a specialty because the GPs are placing a lot of implants and are doing a lot of the other procedures that periodontists do. I was wondering what your feedback is on that?
another concern is that there is not much information on which programs are better. I do not know how to evaluate these programs? AAP lists all these programs but there is no info out there on which programs are stronger and what their focus is on.

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You will be able to do all of that better then GP
 
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Dear oralcare123 thank you for the reply. Do you think it would be hard to grow a book of business and have a busy schedule considering I will be outnumbered by GPs?
Of course I am trying to settle in my hometown in southern Ca which is very saturated by dentists.
 
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You need to love what you do, not just plan for a good income.
 
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I am about to apply to perio. When talking to General dentists that I know, a lot of them say that Perio is not a good choice and is slowly cycling out as a specialty because the GPs are placing a lot of implants and are doing a lot of the other procedures that periodontists do. I was wondering what your feedback is on that?
another concern is that there is not much information on which programs are better. I do not know how to evaluate these programs? AAP lists all these programs but there is no info out there on which programs are stronger and what their focus is on.

Imanm,

These days, it seems *everyone* is getting on the implant bandwagon. Re: your sentiments that Perio is a dying specialty--the same thing was said about Endo about 15 years ago. It's still around, however, and so is Perio. (Though I have to admit--Perio *IS* the butt of a lot of jokes :) ). All specialties wax and wane.

I have read sentiments similar to yours from members of dentaltown Re: Perio being a dying specialty. If Perio loses implants....well, there wouldn't be much else for them. Your niche as a Periodontist should be that you place implants as well as OMFS, but that you charge a significantly lower fee. I think Perio is worth it if you go out and aggressively market yourself as an implantologist, but make sure that you avoid the heavy tuition programs (UPENN, USC, anyone?).

good luck.
 
Perio is still alive, however, you must be smart where you build a practice and how you practice. Not only are there many areas (urban) that are saturated with periodontist, but a lot of GP's are keeping things within practice. Many GP's are having specialists come to their office to perform treatment. That may be the future model, but I think there are still places that would gladly welcome the services of a periodontist.
 
I am about to apply to perio. When talking to General dentists that I know, a lot of them say that Perio is not a good choice and is slowly cycling out as a specialty because the GPs are placing a lot of implants and are doing a lot of the other procedures that periodontists do. I was wondering what your feedback is on that?
another concern is that there is not much information on which programs are better. I do not know how to evaluate these programs? AAP lists all these programs but there is no info out there on which programs are stronger and what their focus is on.

When the general population sees the problems with implants that specialists are seeing, then the balance will go back toward trying to maintain natural teeth. It's amazing what you can do with the full scope of perio - the choices aren't limited to scaling and root planing or extraction and implant. If you do not have well-trained people educating the general lay and dental population about what services you can provide then we are all at a loss. The specialities will always be around; it's just a matter of what the emphasis is. I recommend trying to find a program that will let you be exposed to the full spectrum of periodontal treatment. To find out which, you need to call the programs and go on interviews and ask the residents what the philosophy of the program is and what major procedures they are doing. Some programs are also more academic than clinical, so think about what you want. Good luck.
 
Imanm,

These days, it seems *everyone* is getting on the implant bandwagon. Re: your sentiments that Perio is a dying specialty--the same thing was said about Endo about 15 years ago. It's still around, however, and so is Perio. (Though I have to admit--Perio *IS* the butt of a lot of jokes :) ). All specialties
maintain natural teeth. It's amazing what you can do with the full scope of perio - the choices aren't limited to scaling and root planing or extraction and implant. If you do not have well-trained people educating the general lay and dental population about what services you can provide then we are all at a loss. The specialities will always be around; it's just a matter of what the emphasis is. I recommend trying to find a program that will let you be exposed to the full spectrum of periodontal treatment. To find out which, you need to call the programs and go on interviews and ask the residents what the philosophy of the program is and what major procedures they are doing. Some programs are also more academic than clinical, so think about what you want. Good luck.


When the general population sees the problems with implants that specialists are seeing, then the balance will go back toward trying to
I truly appreciate your inputs. I am definitely considering the schools with lower tuition but like wigglytooth said I don't see a periodontist only being limited to implants. At lease it shouldn't be like that when you study perio and see how many different procedures a periodontist does. I am not sure how much of these procedure they get referrals for in the real life practice since I am still in dental school. But those procedures such as osseous correction surgery, free gingival grafts, CT grafts, apically positioned flaps, canine exposure, etc are the main reasons I am attracted to perio. Do you guys refer to periodontists for any of these procedures? Do you know if any of these procedures are being done in a perio practice regularly?
 
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You need to love what you do, not just plan for a good income.
Dear Oralcare123, I am very passionate about perio. I have worked hard during dental school and have the option of applying to any residencies. I am applying to perio because that is " the one" for me. just concerned about the other aspects of a future career that i am about to commit to.
 
Perio is still alive, however, you must be smart where you build a practice and how you practice. Not only are there many areas (urban) that are saturated with periodontist, but a lot of GP's are keeping things within practice. Many GP's are having specialists come to their office to perform treatment. That may be the future model, but I think there are still places that would gladly welcome the services of a periodontist.
I shadowed a periodontist from LA who would fly out to Vegas to do surgeries at a corporate dental practice locations for 2 days and go back. That's another reason why I am concerned about choosing perio. I had always imagined myself being in a practice working with the same people and providing quality care.
 
Imanm, I'm interested in perio as well and have had discussions with the faculty at my school concerning some of things you asked. Most of the perio faculty have told me that rural areas tend to be more lucrative, as is the trend with dentistry in general it seems. I even had a faculty member try to get me to think twice about going into the specialty. He told me that he hadn't seen a patient in his private practice for a month because referrals have been few and far between. Who knows the story there.

I haven't been able to get a grasp on what makes an applicant competitive for this specialty. Whenever someone starts a thread on this, a ton of OMFS people chime in and say that "anyone with a pulse" can get into perio, then the thread derails. I know someone with a 3.6, high class rank, externships, clubs, etc. that didn't get in to perio residency. It can't be that easy to get in...
 
I've found that the usual problem for people in that case is that they don't apply to enough programs. Someone with a high class rank should be able to get in to Perio without a problem. It is *NOT* a competitive specialty. The problem for good applicants is that they are usually too selective, and apply to only a handful of programs.
 
Imanm, I'm interested in perio as well and have had discussions with the faculty at my school concerning some of things you asked. Most of the perio faculty have told me that rural areas tend to be more lucrative, as is the trend with dentistry in general it seems. I even had a faculty member try to get me to think twice about going into the specialty. He told me that he hadn't seen a patient in his private practice for a month because referrals have been few and far between. Who knows the story there.

I haven't been able to get a grasp on what makes an applicant competitive for this specialty. Whenever someone starts a thread on this, a ton of OMFS people chime in and say that "anyone with a pulse" can get into perio, then the thread derails. I know someone with a 3.6, high class rank, externships, clubs, etc. that didn't get in to perio residency. It can't be that easy to get in...
I have shadowed 3 different periodontists in town and they all seem to be very busy!!! I dont know everyone says something different.
 
I shadowed a periodontist from LA who would fly out to Vegas to do surgeries at a corporate dental practice locations for 2 days and go back. That's another reason why I am concerned about choosing perio. I had always imagined myself being in a practice working with the same people and providing quality care.

Just curious, would that be Bobby Soleiman at Pacific Dental Services?
 
Imanm, I'm interested in perio as well and have had discussions with the faculty at my school concerning some of things you asked. Most of the perio faculty have told me that rural areas tend to be more lucrative, as is the trend with dentistry in general it seems. I even had a faculty member try to get me to think twice about going into the specialty. He told me that he hadn't seen a patient in his private practice for a month because referrals have been few and far between. Who knows the story there.

I haven't been able to get a grasp on what makes an applicant competitive for this specialty. Whenever someone starts a thread on this, a ton of OMFS people chime in and say that "anyone with a pulse" can get into perio, then the thread derails. I know someone with a 3.6, high class rank, externships, clubs, etc. that didn't get in to perio residency. It can't be that easy to get in...
check your private inbox.
 
not sure who that is. why?

I used to work for Pacific Dental Services years ago, a corporation owned by the Thorne family. There's really nothing good to say about them. Dr. Soleiman is still with them as far as I can tell. He used to commute to many PDS offices to render perio treatment. He's a nice guy, talked to him many times. I've nothing bad to say about him. Just wondering if it's him who does the fly-outs to Vegas.
 
I used to work for Pacific Dental Services years ago, a corporation owned by the Thorne family. There's really nothing good to say about them. Dr. Soleiman is still with them as far as I can tell. He used to commute to many PDS offices to render perio treatment. He's a nice guy, talked to him many times. I've nothing bad to say about him. Just wondering if it's him who does the fly-outs to Vegas.
I see. Yeah I didnt see anything bad when I shadowed the periodontist at the corporate office I went to either. it was just kind of hectic compared with the periodontist owned practices I went to. That's all.
 
I see. Yeah I didnt see anything bad when I shadowed the periodontist at the corporate office I went to either. it was just kind of hectic compared with the periodontist owned practices I went to. That's all.
Imanm,
Perio is not a dying field. Thanks to GPs and their limited knowledge about implants, you have good amount of cases of peri-implantitis and other ones only perio guys can deal with. When anything goes wrong with the gums, GPs look upto perio guys.
I can see where you are coming from, since I was unsure myself before I got into perio residency. Now I am pretty sure I am in the right place and infact I am loving it. Like Wigglytooth said, you need to get into a program that is strong surgically.
 
Imanm,
Perio is not a dying field. Thanks to GPs and their limited knowledge about implants, you have good amount of cases of peri-implantitis and other ones only perio guys can deal with. When anything goes wrong with the gums, GPs look upto perio guys.
I can see where you are coming from, since I was unsure myself before I got into perio residency. Now I am pretty sure I am in the right place and infact I am loving it. Like Wigglytooth said, you need to get into a program that is strong surgically.
Thank you so much for this info. it is great to hear some positive comments about perio as I am getting ready to apply in a couple of months. Any suggestions on which programs are stronger in your opinion? As you know there is barely any information online about which perio program is stronger. I have visited a couple of programs and they all seemed to be doing the same amnt of surgery more or less. My periodontist mentor told me to find programs that are more progressive and do more complex surgical procedures such as block grafts, complicated third molar surgical extractions, etc.; but the programs I visited gave me the impression that block graft is kind of frowned upon and not done much in United States!!! Do you think that's true?
 
Block grafts are done but not as often. It also depends on your faculty and how they feel about block grafts. I can tell you about a few surgically strong programs depending on my interactions with those residents. UT SanAntonio, Houston, Baylor, CU denver, UCLA are some of those. I am sure there are other programs out there that are surgically strong too. One thing to keep in mind is to check if there is a pros residency in the same school, that helps..
 
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