THE MERGER OF DENTAL LABORATORY AND CLINIC

Many would wonder how could dental lab and clinic merge? What does it mean by this merger? A time will come that you don't need to train separately as a dental technologist and a dentist but a single curriculum will exist that will train a dental doctor that will either specialise in rendering laboratory services or clinical services. An individual will have to make that choice. At this time dental services will be fully digitised and laboratory fabrication processes will move from plaster room to digital spaces. A careful  look at trends in training and skill acquisitions in developed world by dental companies is blurring the distinction between lab and clinical skills. Even digital dentistry will clearly suggest merger and the involvement of dental professionals and none dental professionals in fabrication of dental prostheses will become a serious concern. The fast changing needs and awareness on the options of treatment by dental patients will be very strong such that patronage will move from the present conventional dental clinic/lab set up to CAD/ CAM theatre where dental clinic and dental lab will share common spaces. In Nigeria we are practicing dentistry as bequeathed to us by the British and as it stands today (in the UK) all cadres of dental professionals can acquire skills related to his specialism ( sometimes a little deviation is observed) by registered education provider after basic training under the present curriculum.  In Britain dentists could acquire one time exclusive lab skills through these education providers if he shows interest while clinical dental technologist are taking clinical training and skills-merger is imminent and will definitely become the norm in the coming decades.  In Britain GDC document on scope of practice for all dental professionals allows other professional to carryout some clinical procedures under the watch of a dentist-for me that is the beginning of the merger. Laws and regulations will allow flexibility in dental treatment and enforcement of law will get rather flexible. Unfortunately, how is Africa responding to this imminent paradigm shift?