Where did you acquire the professional knowledge needed for your specialty, and where and how can you permanently and continuously complete and broaden that?
In high school I was into biology and succeeded up to International Olympiads. I knew I had to do something related to biology and went to dental school in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. I was involved in student life, applied to exchange programs but most importantly, worked as an assistant in a private practice since my 3-rd year. This gave me the opportunity to see what is dentistry really about. I was really lucky to work with Dr. Vasile Cirimpei. I am thankful for his mentorship and all the support that he gave mewhen I did my first steps into this job. He also gave me a few books in English to read, that set a good foundation to my professional knowledge. Internet is of great help nowadays to keep in touch with other colleges, follow what they do and keep oneself inspired and motivated. I am active on different dental groups were I share my work and try to learn from others on subjects of interest. Dental conferences are the well-known way of learning new things, but most important is that it gives us that real communication that’s missing online. As a conclusion, my advice is this: first find a mentor, read good books, follow people on internet and meet them at the conferences.
In recent years the various fields of dental specialties are changing in large scales. Do You think this progress promotes the quality of patients’ life or does it ease mainly the labour of dentists and technicians?
Some innovations in dentistry are real game changers and have a big impact on clinical outcome and patient’s health. Others are nothing more than a good marketing campaign. I follow with interest what is happening on the market, but I am more aware about what are my patient’s needs. I try to be honest with them and not put on their shoulders the financial price of these new fancy toys with questionable clinical outcome.
What motivation were you affected by to choose this specialty as your field of interest?
I like to see what I am doing and I enjoy the way patients react to the immediate result. This way I ended up doing restorative dentistry and later got me into microscope dentistry. There is no better way to work on a patient than with a microscope, as you are able to see very well, take into consideration more details and have the best ergonomics. Case documentation with photo and video is easy and of great help when I need to communicate with my patients.
Esthetic dentists offer and can provide self-confidence, joy, and even hope for their patients. What do You consider to be the most important factor from these?
Nowadays, self-confidence is a must-have as it became a part of our culture. It is important to be comfortable with the way you look and this is what I try to help my patients achieve. In some cases there is a need for aesthetic treatments, in others, people just have way too high expectations and a discussion may help settle this down. This is really common to patients that do bleaching and feel that their teeth are never white enough.
Today there is a series of methods to restore frontal teeth. What treatments do you prefer from these?
I do all kind of treatments and techniques existing to restore anterior teeth and it’s hard to say that I like one of these more that another. What I will choose to do depends on patient’s needs, that’s why first I listen to them, and later decide how we can solve the problem.
Where would You draw the borderline of direct restorations? What do you think about direct bridges –
when, where?
The limit for direct restorations is set by mechanics. I see resin materials as a space filler and focus more on residual tooth substance,it’s design, the way it is finished. When the mechanical resistance of the hard tissues is low, I go for indirect restorative procedures. I do direct bridges only in the aesthetic zone as a short term provisional until the patient will get an implant in that area. In some cases, patients never come back as they feel comfortable with it and use the direct bridge as long as it works.
Would you tell us one of your favorite leisure time activity, field of interest or hobby?
I am the point in my career where the main focus is my practice and professional growth. These activities are very time consuming and cover my whole agenda. The little free time I have is spent at home, cooking, reading books, watching Netflix or walking my dog. This is my comfort zone where I recharge my batteries and get ready for the next week.