I was wondering how could a general dentist obtain training in orthodontics without actually going into a residency for it. Are there any fellowships or courses that are offered for GP that can teach him how to do ortho on a good level? If there is such a thing where can I find more info about this?
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Ortho training
Started by Dr_Oh_DMD
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I've never heard of a GP actually doing ortho cases. The only thing close to it I think would be Invisalign. But there isn't much to it as far as what the dentist does. He's basicly the middle man. Take impressions, send them to Invisalign, then you just sit back and collect the money.
There are many GPs out there that do all of their own ortho. There are even GPs out there that have limited their practice to ortho. They just do tons of CE.
I just shadowed a general dentist (in Tennesee) who does ortho work on Fridays. I believe he went to seminars to learn how to do it. He did not have to "take time off" to go to school for a year or anything. He does more than Invisalign, and he sticks to the easier cases. Sorry that I don't know where to find out more.
Yes tons of GPS do ortho, although they are the easier cases becuase you can do anything in dentistry that you ofeel you are competnat at. Keep in mind if you mess up it could kill you in court. But most dental schools provide a decent level of ortho experience, and if you still want more you can take an AGD that is focused in ortho. If you past those points there are tons of seminar/Ce credits to learn how to do it.
Maybe Penn is different, but most dental schools do NOT give you "a decent level of ortho experience." Most schools don't teach you squat about ortho. At most you may be required to rotate a tooth a few degrees to improve restorability. At worst, they'll give you a class with one lab day where you make some pretty tracings, come up with a page of numbers you don't understand and then they'll tell you "See how hard this is? That's why ortho should never be attempted by mere mortals. Refer, refer, refer." 🙂
One of the things a dentist told me was that you can do almost anything if you take the right CE classes and are comfortable with doing the work. He said that sometimes it pays to refer out and other times he can do it himself with confidence. The one issue to watch out for is that if anything gets to the point where courts get involved then your work will be compared to the quality of work from a specialist.
