A Career In Implant Dentistry

Implant Dentistry involves the placement of dental implants in the jaw bone to replace missing teeth. In the this article, Dr Ferhan Ahmed discusses how to develop your career as an Implant Dentist

Dr Ferhan Ahmed | BDS, MBChB

Implant Surgeon

Dr Ferhan Ahmed is dual-qualified in dentistry and medicine. His current practice is limited to dental implants and surgical dentistry. He qualified from the University of Glasgow (UK) with a BDS in 2005 and from the University of Liverpool (UK) with an MBChB in 2012. Since completion of vocational training, he has exclusively focused training and research in the area of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Dr Ahmed is involved in teaching and mentoring within the field of dental implants and surgical dentistry. His practice in dental implants involves conventional implants, complex bone grafting and extra maxillary implants such as Pterygoids and Zygomatics.

A Career in Implant Dentistry

Implant dentistry is the placement of dental implants in the jaw bone to replace missing teeth. It encompasses treatment that may be required prior to implant surgery such as bone and soft tissue grafting and includes the restoration and maintenance of dental implants.

Dental Implant treatment is a process and involves assessment, treatment planning, surgery, restoration and maintenance.

It is important to be aware implant dentistry is a restorative discipline that happens to have a strong surgical component.

Why did I choose Implant Dentistry?

Since completing dental school over 15 years ago I have focused all my training around surgical dentistry. Once I completed my foundation medical years and decided against pursuing a career in maxillofacial surgery it was a natural transition for me to start increasing my focus towards implant dentistry. Initially my time was split between oral surgery, sedation and dental implants. As my dental implant experience increased I found my clinical practice evolve. Therefore in 2016 I decided to limit my practice to dental implants.

Implant dentistry is both challenging and rewarding. Every patient presents unique challenges and no clinical case is the same. The work you do has the potential to make a large impact on a patients quality of life.

A typical week…

Involves a lot of travelling and working with different clinicians around the UK. My workload is split between treating my own patients in various clinics, mentoring other colleagues in their clinics and teaching online via my own platform and through zoom.

This coming week I am in Newcastle mentoring a colleague carrying out a full arch immediate load case. Then I am in Oban in the north west of Scotland working in one of my own clinics. Towards the end of the week I am flying to Exeter to mentor someone else with a full arch immediate load case. I love that my week is so varied and I have the opportunity to work with so many different clinicians/teams and visit different clinics all around the UK.

Career Progression & Options

Having a good understanding and knowledge of dentistry is essential prior to starting your dental implant journey. This is only built through experience.

Build your experience up in a step wise manner in a supportive environment. As experience increases you will start to take on more complex cases. You may even decide to develop a particular interest in an area within implant dentistry such as aesthetic, bone regeneration or full arch implant reconstruction.

There will also be many education and training opportunities once you establish yourself as an implant dentist.

I have the privilege of mentoring many dentists in implant dentistry and have run and been involved in numerous training and education courses. I have also had the opportunity to lecture and train abroad in many countries through my implant work. This variety has kept me super engaged and motivated within the field of implant dentistry.

How to Get Involved in Implant Dentistry

There are a number of ways to get started in Implant dentistry. I have made a YouTube video on my 5 TOP TIPS to getting started in implant dentistry.

Courses which may be in person and/or online. There are so many too choose from and a large range in the fees that are being charged. It can be very confusing to know where to start. Get in touch with alumni from these courses and ask about their experience. This also is a great way to network. Also think about the potential return on investment following the completion of a course.
Get a MENTOR. The single most powerful way to develop in implant dentistry. I would not be where I am today without having had mentors to guide and help me.
Start building your BRAND. This will help in all aspects of dentistry including implant dentistry. You need to be present and visible to your target audience. The most important action you can take is produce content on a regular basis and ship.
Getting started can be the most difficult part and once you do, you quickly gain momentum. Offer considerable discounts for the first 10-15 cases so you can build up experience in a short period of time. Your working environment is critical. It is important to work somewhere that is supportive to your development as an implant dentist.
Start simple. This is so so important. Take a step wise approach to managing implant cases. The ITI SAC assessment tool is a very good aid to help risk assess cases.