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The Complete Handbook of Dentistry
A practical reference for dental professionals, practice managers, and serious students on the science, selection, operation, and business of modern dentistry
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Dentistry
The Scope of a Dental Practice
The first thing to understand about modern dentistry is that it is not a single act but a system. When you sit in an operatory chair, you are a participant in a process that has been standardized, measured, and refined over a century. To understand dentistry, one must understand the various elements that come together in a single patient visit and how the practice operates as a business to support that visit.
Consider a routine restorative procedure: the placement of a Class II amalgam restoration on a lower molar. This single procedure looks simple on a billing sheet, but it is an orchestrated event. The process begins before the patient arrives. The sterilization room must be running, with pouches of instruments processed and ready. The dental assistant must have checked the drawer stock for the correct burs, the matrix bands, and the restorative material. The dentist reviews the patient's radiographs to assess the depth of the cavity and proximity of the pulp chamber.
When the patient is seated, the overhead light is positioned, and the assistant passes the explorer and mouth mirror. The dentist uses the explorer to confirm the irregularity in the enamel and then prepares a local anesthetic, often a 2% lidocaine solution with epinephrine. If the patient asks for nitrous oxide, the flow-meter on the machine needs to have been calibrated and the scavenging system turned on. Once the anesthetic has taken effect, the dentist uses a