Formación Odontológica en España y Casos Clínicos Complejos

How a Dentist is Trained in My Country

Introduction to a Dental Career

Dentistry is the occupation concerned with the prevention and treatment of supporting tissues, oral disease, and particularly diseases of the teeth. In addition to universal practice, dentistry includes many areas of expertise and subspecialties, such as:

• Oral surgery
• Prosthodontics
• Pedodontics
• Public health dentistry
• General dentistry
• Paediatric dentistry
• Oral pathology

It is the job of a dentist to be fully aware of different types of problems and be able to recognise those problems.

Dentistry in Spain

In my country, all dentists go through at least five years of schooling after high school and earn a degree in general dentistry; this consists of five years of undergraduate work and one year in dental school. In order to apply to a dental school, a prospective student must take an entrance exam known as Selectividad. The acceptance process into dental school is highly selective.

Once accepted into a school, the individual will receive a degree in general dentistry over the course of five years. During this period, an individual can start work in a laboratory in order to familiarise themselves with the deontological instruments and start his/her practice with non-real cases. In the last year of the degree, they can do their internship in university hospitals, working across all specialities such as prosthodontics, paediatric dentistry, and treating special patients.

An individual may then choose to do a second degree in a specialised area of dentistry after graduation with a general dentistry degree. In this case, students go on to pursue a Master's degree where the course is equally divided into theory lessons and practical work.

To Sum Up

You can choose to either work or study for a Master's degree. If you start working after you have finished your degree, you can work as a general dentist; and if you finish your Master's degree, you will be able to work as a specialist in odontology.

Dentistry is a highly successful, demanding, and rewarding career. It is only those individuals who can make it through schooling that will become successful dentists. A career in dentistry not only includes one's ability to diagnose dental problems but also to be strongly adept at interpersonal skills, because it is only when the patient and doctor can communicate that the career of dentistry can be successful.

My Most Difficult Case in Dentistry and How I Dealt with It

I finished my degree two years ago and then I did a Master's in periodontics and another in aesthetics; for this reason, I have not come across many difficult cases.

Once, I had a case of an older man who came to see me because he wanted to restore his set of teeth (dentition), as all his teeth were worn out. He was looking forward to having perfect teeth.

My Most Difficult Case in Dentistry in Spain

First of all, he had to wear a dental splint for a month; this splint is used to raise up the occlusion to get an open bite. A month later, I had to sculpt his upper dentition to make an impression with silicone, send it to the laboratory, and the staff would then make a metal dentition for the next session. In the meantime, I made a provisional dentition for him.

After that, I had to do the same in a clinical session with the lower dentition, where I had to check the metal framework, but everything was fine. My patient and I chose the colour for the definitive crowns that would be used for the porcelain. In the last session, I needed to cement these crowns and check his occlusion. Finally, I made a splint which the patient had to sleep with.

My Most Difficult Case Abroad

When I finished my degree, I went to Laos with an NGO—this is what is called Dentists Without Borders. I confronted a lot of cases which were very difficult, not only for the treatments, but for the extreme situations. We only had the essential material; we did not have any aspirators for blood or saliva, and I think this was very important for surgical treatments like extractions. We had to sit the patients on plastic chairs with buckets near them where they had to spit blood and saliva. We worked outside the house without good hygiene.

We provided treatment, and most of the patients needed the extraction of several teeth because they did not have good hygiene and they chewed a plant called the leaf of betel, which stained and destroyed their teeth. As well, the children needed to have a lot of extractions, even the young ones!

Conclusion

However, although I had difficult cases to deal with, life in general has been a new learning experience for me, and I feel I have overcome most obstacles that I may need to tackle in the near future.