Spring Break Edition: Continuing Education (CE)

With an array of things to do over spring break, a couple of us decided to help out with a continuing education course at the dental school. Fun, I know!

In actuality, it turned out to be a great experience.  We met Dr. André Ritter (one of the co-authors for our Operative book), had great free food, and had the opportunity to witness what exactly CE entailed.

The course titled “Achieving Excellence with Direct Composite,” incorporated a lecture on anterior and posterior case studies, followed by two hands-on activities in the sim lab. The educational session was short; we missed most of it due to the fact we had to prepare the sim lab. The sim lab was a mess but we were able to make it presentable for the 20 or so dentists and EDDA’s. That’s right EDDA’s (expanded duties dental assistant).

Dr. Ritter showed us how to restore class IV, class I, and class II restorations using 3M ESPE composites, including body and translucent types. The procedure included using a lingual stent, and building up different layers using the various types of composite. He outlined how to incorporate developmental grooves and mamelons using the translucent type of composite. It was actually quite comforting to know the process was similar to the method we were taught in Esthetic Dentistry, just using slightly altered techniques to make it look more esthetic and, of course, the use of better (more expensive) polishing instruments.

The best part was when the participants were practicing.  We were given the opportunity to pick Dr. Ritter’s brain. Not only was his work on plastic teeth amazing, he was also tremendously approachable and friendly.

For the most part, it was a great experience, and I walked away with some really great tips for using composite!

And since we all know dental students’ relationship with free food, the event was catered by Gourmet To Go, and it was quite tasty!