We’re coming from you live at the AAE! It was a fantastic conference and to try and capture it for you, we set up our own podcasting booth.
This episode features Diwakar Kinra D.D.S., M.S, of Contemporary Endodontics.
Join us as we discuss:
- New Irrigation Products debuting at the AAE
- Why Irrigation Delivery is the next major innovation in Endo
- What Dr. Diwakar has learned speaking to current residents
- Side Hustles
- The Importance of Work-Life Balance
“This next year, we're gonna see a lot of great things, especially in the space of irrigation. It's things back in 2019 that just weren’t available to us.” — Dr. Diwakar Kinra
New Products on the Floor
Know what sucks about being an endodontist? Pretty much all the best products!
Okay, it's an old joke, but as a long-time practitioner on the floor of the AAE conference, Diwakar got an up-close view of new and improved products. What did he think of the new tools coming on the market?
- Everyone's ready to go — full speed
- Exciting new irrigation tools are about to hit the market in the next year
- Technology is about to make our lives easier — a lot easier
"I've seen some improvement in products," Diwakar told us. "I've seen some new products. I've seen some things that have probably been waiting to be released, but they couldn't be because of COVID." The innovation obvious on the convention floor is simply astounding.
Cheaper, better, and more efficient ways to irrigate the canal
Everybody's gunning for a cheaper, better, more efficient, and just easier way to irrigate the canal, effectively something that beat Sonendo's Gentlewave. We asked Diwakar: Have you seen any interesting things specifically with that?
Diwakar said that all great innovators hold one thing in common — they force everyone else to step up their game. The problem occurs when everyone tries to innovate at the same time. That's when you reach a plateau. And that's happened in the profession. I mean… How many different ways do you really need to make a file?
Most endodontists could probably do a root canal with two twigs. You win the game with irrigation. That said, irrigation doesn't seem like something that should be that difficult. You can get good results with Clorox and a syringe. Why do we need all these fancy mechanisms to make something simple and successful into something complex?
“Innovation may not increase our success rates, but it's made our lives easier. It's made the patient and staff experience better.”
You could ask that
- Starting a career
- Substantially more student debt
- Potentially trying to start a family
- Personal commitments
Challenges aside, Rob has seen some of the most exciting advancements come from these younger generations and he will continue to emphasize their importance.
Unfair Assumptions of the Millennial & Gen Z Workforce
I've seen people give an unfair assessment to the millennials, or Gen Z are the sense that they say, Oh, well, you know, they don't like to work hard, or this and that.
“I have six assistants in my office, three of them definitely have side hustles.”
And I actually see that, you know, all of them have a lot of hustle to them. And sometimes it's whether it's a side hustle, or it's their main hustle. endodontics is just part of their overall life. You know, in a resident, it's not like, I see that they aren't, maybe that's their main focus, like, you know, they want to do end up, they also want to have that ability to do other things in their life that they like, and I think a lot of us, you know, who did come from generations, like when I left my residency, and I started my practice from scratch, I worked 10 years for five days, every day. I was working for 10 years in a row, five days a week. And the burnout happened quicker. So I see that these generations, they want to practice but maybe not at that parameter.
A key takeaway
Associations like AAE are continuing to empower endodontists everywhere, collecting new ideas rather than keeping them siloed. And while current leadership has gotten us to where we are today, it’s the younger generations that will bring AAE into the future.
As those younger generations begin to take over, the one thing they should keep in mind: a primary focus on the patient. If you treat them with kindness and respect, they’ll pay it back tenfold with retention and new patient acquisition through word-of-mouth.
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