Finding an Implant Mentor

Dr Fadi Barrak

With this in mind, mentoring in implant dentistry is paramount and an essential part of the training. This is especially important in implantology, as it is barely at the undergraduate level, with minimal clinical exposure, if any at all.

Finding a mentor can be challenging, hence I write this with a view to try and point colleagues looking for a mentor in the right direction. When seeking a mentor, the following list serves as a guide to make the best choice.

• The relationship between mentor and mentee needs to be based on professional trust and integrity, as the mentee needs to be confident of the mentor's ongoing support, especially if there is a complication with a case, even if several years after the completion of the treatment.

• The mentor must have a supportive approach and certainly not the traditional 'consultoid' derogatory approach, which is unprofessional and does not help anyone.

• The mentee must feel comfortable enough in this relationship to be able to question any decisions or suggestions from the mentor and not accept them blindly, or out of respect, and avoid asking for clarification on every aspect that the mentee is unsure of.

• The mentor must have extensive experience, not only in the surgical, but also in the restorative aspect of implant dentistry, as it is a restoratively driven treatment. It is difficult to put a number on this, however, 500 implants placed and restored is a safe level of experience to expect from someone who wants to guide a colleague. The mentor needs to have had enough experience to know how to help the mentee avoid problems, and this is often from having learnt from their own mistakes, which become evident after hundreds of cases. Indeed, the time an implant surgeon is most likely to make a mistake is when they feel confident having placed 50-100 implants, which is when they take more risks.

• The mentee needs to have a clear understanding of what the mentor will offer, i.e. not just a chairside assistance. There needs to be a pre-appointment check of the treatment plan, agreed plan, brief before the case, de-brief afterwards, as well as some recorded feedback for the mentee's records.

• The fee structure is very much an individually decided issue, but I believe that although the mentee needs to look at this as an investment and accept limited or no profitability from some cases, it needs to ideally be at least break even. Some of the more straightforward cases can be mentored remotely, by sharing the digital plans with the mentor while having an online brief. This will be much more cost effective and still allows a consensus agreement of the plan.

Selecting the right mentor is a step that will have an extended outcome on both the mentee’s progress and the treatment of the mentee’s patients in the future. Therefore, when looking for a mentor, it is of paramount importance that the mentee consider all the above points to ensure a fruitful learning experience.