Continuing education in the dental industry is crucial for keeping all dental staff trained in the latest techniques. It is common for the dental industry to go through many changes, often in short periods of time in part due to the excellent research and development in the sector. A practicing dentist will find it difficult to keep up-to-date with the latest techniques in the industry without partaking in continuing education. This is why it is so important.
License renewal
When a dental professional needs to have their licence to practice renewed, the state which the professional practices in will often have to have had a minimum of 50 hours of continuing education credits for their licence to be renewed. It is important to note that each state will have different rules and requirements regarding licence renewal, so make sure you do your research depending on which state you work in.
Renewing and Learning New Knowledge
A dentist who qualified 30 years ago would struggle to have the same knowledge of the latest dental techniques as a dentist who only recently qualified. This means that all dentists will have the same knowledge and will complete the same techniques, no matter when they qualified. This gives a standardized care program for all patients and makes treatment safer for all.
Career Development
Those who take part in regular continuing education will broaden their horizons and often end up with new skills that they can take forward to other dental jobs in the future. It’s now easier than ever to take part in continuing education with the internet now the medium from which seminars are given. This means there is no travelling required to attend and the cost of taking part in these programs are also reduced as a result.
Development of Junior Staff
Continuing education programs allows junior staff to improve on the quality of the techniques that they have learnt in recent times. It is common for senior dental staff to send the junior staff to these continuing education programs as a way of developing team building.
These are just some of the reasons which explain why continuing education is so important in the 21st century. The continuing education programs are available in all areas of dentistry from Orthodontics and Periodontics, to Microscopic Dentistry and Cosmetic dentistry.
If you are needing a tool for tracking continuing education credits, check out DentReps.