Motivating for the Future

Walking into a lecture hall or classroom always seems to have the same effect on me. The feeling of excitement, some nerves, and thousands of thoughts running through my brain with the knowledge that I will not have enough time to share everything I would like to share. After a long pause from those feelings that come with teaching, in-person meetings are beginning again. Although my calendar filled up almost immediately with lectures and hands-on classes, I chose to hold my first two in-person classes with small groups of students: first at the New York City College of Technology to a group of future dental technicians, and then to a group of dentists/students in the International Esthetic Dentistry program at New York University College of Dentistry. Next, I was off to Florida, California, and Washington state, with a virtual congress in between.

Each experience felt great, and I was excited for each in different ways. After months of virtual communication, these meetings brought renewed feelings of appreciation and I was motivated. The questions, follow-up emails, and general interest in learning truly made the hard part of running out of my office and sitting on planes or in traffic worth it. I was reminded of the reasons that I am motivated to do the work I do.

One topic that continued to come up in these lectures was the need for more technicians. With the diminishing number of technician schools and the challenges of technological advancements, laboratories need more than just task- or piece-type workers. Finding people who are motivated to become technicians is becoming harder.

Several years ago, I promised myself that any time I visited a state with a dental technology school, I would donate at least half a day to that school, attempting to re-inspire some of the instructors and to motivate the students, reminding them of all that can be achieved in our profession. I felt that over the years, I was lucky to witness a positive effect; during local congresses, younger faces were turning out. Yet, that began to slow a little in 2018 and 2019, and then the pandemic struck. As a teacher and educator, I always feel inspired after teaching, but the question remains in me: Are we, as a group, inspiring and encouraging the future of our profession? Over the years, students who had an interest in working with their hands or utilizing their diverse backgrounds in art or healthcare provided teachers with a pool of promising and diverse talent. Is it possible that the focus of digital CAD-type dentistry has had a limiting effect on the pool from which we draw? Or is it possible that we as educators are not sharing enough information about our profession to inspire?

With the return to in-person learning, my motivation to inspire and to be inspired feels renewed. Going forward, let us share the passion and the drive that we have for our profession with the younger generation of talent and promote artistry, even in an age of advanced digital technology.

Peter Pizzi, MDT, CDT
Editor-in-Chief • ppizzi@aegiscomm.com