Dental As Anything Matt Hopcraft

There are many parallels between the pressure cooker environment of the MasterChef kitchen and a dental practice. So it shouldn't be surprising that there are valuable lessons that could be useful. Although it’s been nearly 10 years since I was on the show, it sometimes feels like it was just yesterday. I often reflect on the experiences over that 5 month period – because the more I look back, the more I realise how much the lessons from the MasterChef kitchen have helped to influence and shape who I am today.

In this episode of Dental As Anything, I share some of the life lessons that I learned on the show that I have found to be particularly valuable.

The somewhat controversial issue of tongue ties hit the media last week, with a newspaper article highlighting some harrowing patient stories and the boom in popularity of the tongue tie release procedure.
In this episode of the Dental as Anything podcast I speak to Dr Mihiri Silva about diagnosis and management of tongue ties. Mihiri is a specialist paediatric dentist who is a Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Dental School, a Clinician-Scientist Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Consultant Paediatric Dentist and the Research Lead for the Department of Dentistry at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. She also lead the Australian Dental Association’s position statement on tongue ties and ankyloglossia, and is eminently qualified to talk to about this issue.

In a span of only 30 years, the cost of a dental education has gone from zero to anywhere from $60,000 to $430,000. With inflation running hot over the past few years, many graduates are seeing their debt increasing. Fortunately a recent budget decision will provide some relief for those with an outstanding student debt.

This week Matt discusses these recent changes to HECS indexation, the need for further reform and the impact of increasing student debt on the dental profession.

Dental personnel have a long history of ensuring that the members of our Army, Navy and Air Force have good oral health. ANZAC Day is an opportunity to reflect on their service.

In this episode of the Dental as Anything podcast I speak to Dr Amanda Leen about her experiences as a dentist in the Royal Australian Army Dental Corps. Amanda joined the Army as an undergraduate dental student, and served as a dental officer at 1 Brigade in Darwin and 1 Health Support Battalion in Holsworthy. She is now an orthodontist practising in Geelong.

Being a competent dental practitioner is about much more than just surgical skills, and it is important that we focus more broadly on our role as physicians of the mouth.

Dental education, like any form of education, is a beginning and not an end. It starts the journey, equipping graduates with knowledge and skills that can then be built on, and indeed must be built on, over time. It also equips them to adapt as the profession changes and adapts.

This week Matt talks about the issues of dental education, professional identity and what it means to be a dentist.

There have been many dire predictions of an oversupply of dentists over the past decade, but do we in fact have too many dentists? Let's find out in this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, where Matt discusses the issues of workforce supply and demand. This is particularly relevant as advocacy ramps up in the push to increase government funding for dental programs such as a Senior Dental Benefits Scheme.