Journal · 2 min read
After a Cosmetic Dentistry Course: Choosing Your First Cases
The course ends on a Sunday. The real learning starts with the case you choose on Monday.
You finished a cosmetic dentistry course. Your notebook is full.
Now it is Monday, and there is a patient in your chair. What you do in the next few weeks decides whether the course becomes part of your dentistry or a weekend you remember fondly.
(Still choosing a program? Start with my guide to the best cosmetic dentistry courses in the US.)
The gap is action, not knowledge
In an Art of Ceramic session, Dr. Rhodri Thomas asked the room a pointed question. We have shown the video of a patient holding a mirror while I build flowable on her teeth at many courses. How many people actually went back the next week and did it?
Dr. Robin Hildebrand, an Art of Ceramic alumna, said it plainly: if you can take the information you are given and actually apply it, that is really all you need to get started.
Start where your hands already are
Your first cases after a cosmetic dentistry course do not need to be ten-tooth cases.
Photograph every patient this week. Offer a direct mock-up to a patient who is curious. None of that commits you to treatment you are not ready for, and all of it builds the eye a larger case depends on.
Two questions for every first case
- Can I plan it fully with what I learned?
- Is it the kind of work I want more of?
The second one matters more than it looks. Rod talks about saying no to cases that pull you away from the work you want to be known for. The first cases you photograph and share become the cases people bring to you.
If the answer to both is yes, that is your first case. Then do it again next week.
Questions, answered.
What should I do after a cosmetic dentistry course?
Start applying it right away with skills that do not need a large case: photograph every patient and offer direct mock-ups to curious patients.
How do I choose my first cosmetic cases?
Choose cases you can plan fully with what you learned, and that match the work you want to be known for.
Do I need a big case to practice what I learned?
No. Photography, records and mock-ups can start this week, on patients already in your schedule.
Why does case selection matter so early?
The first cases you photograph and share shape the cases people bring to you next.