Over the past five years, The Lucy Hobbs Project® has acknowledged some incredible women in dentistry. These women have persevered throughout their careers and have set the benchmark high in our industry, similar to Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor, the first American woman to earn a doctorate in dentistry.
Today, Benco Dental invites nominations for the 2018 Lucy Hobbs Project Awards, which will honor six exemplary women in the dental community. One of the six women honored last year was Dr. Andrea Joy Smith, for her clinical expertise.
“I feel like I’m on a constant quest to solve the problems of my patients,” she told Incisal Edge dental lifestyle magazine earlier this story.
That’s the same sentiment she had in mind over a decade ago in 2007, when she sat in a 3M training course to learn how to use a new product called Mini Dental Implants.
In her Sacramento practice, Dr. Smith had been treating an elderly woman who complained that her lower denture had slipped and was uncomfortable. The woman, who usually went out dancing or roller skating with other retired friends several times a week, had become something of a recluse – unwilling to use her bothersome dentures and embarrassed by the condition of her mouth.
Dr. Smith knew that the typical solution — have a surgeon place two implants near the front of the patient’s mouth and connect them with a metal bar and attach new dentures to that bar — wasn’t right in this case. After all, the woman was older, and the procedure’s multiple visits, bone grafting, months of recovery time and $20,000 price tag were all out of the question. “She’s one of those patients who was really locked out of getting the conventional implant,” Dr. Smith recalls.
The game changer, she says, were Mini Dental Implants. The product costs half as much as regular implants, and can be loaded with the crown or denture the same day. Her patient was back dancing and skating in no time.
Since that first successful procedure, Dr. Smith has made Mini Dental Implants a core offering of her practice and become a diplomat for the International Academy of Mini Dental Implants, teaching others how to use them.
She continues to add new methods to her daily work, including the Chao Pinhole Surgical Technique for gum treatment, to help her solve big problems for patients in the most hassle and pain-free way possible. “I look for those minimally invasive techniques,” Dr. Smith says, “that can have a really big impact.”
Looks like Dr. Smith has had a really big impact as well.
Know Someone Similar?
There’s two days left to nominate a clinical expert for a 2018 Lucy Hobbs Project Award prior to the deadline this Friday, April 27.
Award categories include:
Woman to Watch: An up-and-coming leader who utilizes her position to create positive change in the industry
Industry Icon: A trailblazer who is consistently recognized and admired for her work in the dental industry
Mentor: An advisor who recognizes the importance of supporting, educating and encouraging others
Innovator: A groundbreaker who demonstrates a willingness to implement new technologies and business processes without fear of potential failure
Humanitarian: An altruist who works tirelessly for a charity or cause that benefits the well-being of others
Clinical Expert: A skillful practitioner who embraces advancements and adeptly integrates them into patient care.
If you know someone who fits the criteria above, click here to nominate her today.
Mark your calendar to attend this year’s celebration September 13 to 15 in San Francisco. Don’t wait to register: https://www.lucyhobbscelebration.com/