Dr. Gonçalo Shearman has an incredibly diverse profile as a dentist, having explored all the aforementioned avenues. He has practiced as a general dentist while specializing in implantology, he has worked at both small and large clinics, and he has experience working abroad. Our team at Zircon Medical recently hosted Dr. Shearman on our podcast series to discuss how younger dentists can find their calling and choose the right dental clinic, specialization, or path.

Introducing Dr. Gonçalo Shearman, the oral surgery and implantology specialist at Clinica Medico-Dentária, Cascais

Dr. Gonçalo Shearman is the oral surgery and implantology specialist at Medico-Dentaria in Cascais, Portugal. He completed his dental education from the University of Lisbon in 2005, following which he practiced general dentistry and eventually specialized in implantology and oral surgery — he has performed numerous full-mouth oral rehabilitations. While Dr. Shearman has primarily practiced dentistry in Portugal, he also spent 2 years working in the Lausanne Area, Switzerland.

Dr. Shearman displays charming candor and humor during his interview. When asked about his motivation, he says there’s nothing more agreeable than a beautiful smile, followed by an interesting observation. Most dentists are aware that patients often say, “I’ve lost a molar, but I have plenty more, so I don’t need to replace it.” However, to highlight the ludicrousness of that statement, Dr. Shearman good-naturedly answers, “well, you also have plenty of fingers, is it alright if you lose a finger or two?” 

Dr. Shearman says implantology is valuable because losing a single tooth sets off a chain reaction. He sees all his patients as family members — he explains that he would treat all his family members in the same way.

The difference between working as a dentist in Portugal and Switzerland

According to Dr. Shearman, there’s a significant difference between working as a dentist in Portugal and Switzerland, most of which he attributes to the differences in lifestyles and income.

In Switzerland, most people have good earnings and wages, so they don’t view dental medicine as a luxury. Patients often visit their dentists every six months for regular dental cleanings and checkups to ensure everything is in order. Companies also oblige their workers to perform routine dental checkups. As such, patients in Switzerland don’t generally need full-arch rehabilitations because their dental health never reaches such a position. 

In Portugal, about 40% of the population only visits the dentist if they have extreme toothaches or lost a tooth. As such, when patients visit the dentist in Portugal, they have to be told there’s no way to save their teeth. The dentist often needs to extract the remaining teeth to perform a full-arch rehabilitation. As such, patients in Portugal often need far more involved full-arch rehabilitations.

When Dr. Shearman worked at a fairly large dental practice in Switzerland from 2014 to 2017, he was surprised that no one offered the All-on-4 protocol, even though it’s a fairly standard dental procedure for full-mouth rehabilitation. However, in Portugal, even smaller dental clinics have dentists specializing in the All-on-4 procedure because of its frequency. Consequently, Portuguese dentists generally have more experience with complex procedures than their Swiss counterparts.

Dentists are faced with numerous questions and decisions when starting their dental careers. One of those decisions is regarding the nature of the dental practice they join. Some join smaller dental clinics and private practices because of their intimate nature, close working relationships, and a closer relationship with patients. And others join larger dental practices because of their assumed status and security. However, when it comes to dental practices, bigger isn’t necessarily better, as Dr. Shearman succinctly highlighted during his interview.

This article further explores the differences between working at big and small dental clinics, helping you choose the ideal clinic for you. 

Learning & Training

When asked to offer tips for younger dentists, most established dentists emphasize the need to shadow experienced dentists. In dentistry, most young dentists gain experience and hands-on experience at their first dental practice. As such, you should ask yourself whether you stand to learn more at a smaller dental practice or a larger practice.

In smaller settings, you’ll have the opportunity to develop a close relationship with one or two dentists, shadowing them in most of their work. Larger settings generally lack such personal intimacy, but you get the chance to work with multiple dentists, thus learning from the best dentists across various specializations. 

Finally, it depends on your personal style and preferences. Do you want to learn in a fast-paced environment where you can work with numerous dentists and specializations, or would you rather develop a strong personal bond with one or two dentists who take you under their wings?

Number of Colleagues

When choosing the ideal dental office, you must also consider the team size — larger dental practices naturally have a larger number of dentists and staff.

Dentists who prefer large offices say they enjoy learning from many colleagues and having more people to lean on. However, that also means you have to deal with more personalities, learn to navigate interpersonal relationships and office dynamics, all while honing your dental skills and experience. Dental offices with larger teams also tend to have more turnover, which means you may not have the opportunity to forge strong bonds. 

Dentists that prefer smaller settings say they enjoy working with a small but close group of individuals. Private dental practices can also feel like a family — in fact, dentists working in small clinics often describe their staff and colleagues as family. Due to the close-knit setting, smaller clinics also have limited turnover. However, people working in small offices usually know all about everyone else’s business and habits, so you can’t count on the anonymity that comes with numbers.

Working Pace

You should also consider whether you prefer a fast-paced working environment or something more leisurely. Larger dental practices have a larger number of dentists, which, in turn, also means a larger number of patients. They usually have a fast-paced environment wherein you have to see patients in quick succession with little break in between appointments. However, you also get the opportunity to learn more, attend more procedures, and develop a wider set of skills because there are more patients.

Smaller dental practices have fewer dentists and, in turn, fewer patients. This allows them to slow down and take their time with each patient. Instead of rushing from one appointment to the next, dentists in smaller clinics can let their patients exceed their allotted time. This gives dentists far more control over the clinic’s organization and more one-on-one time with patients. However, you might also need to wait long periods to perform different treatments, and many of the complex procedures might be referred elsewhere. 

Specialization

You need to consider if you intend on specializing in a particular field of dentistry, such as implantology, down the line. If so, you should either find a small dental practice specializing in implantology or a larger chain.

Larger dental practices usually have experts for each aspect of dentistry, from dental hygienists for cleanings all the way to dental surgeons for full-mouth rehabilitation. As such, if you want to specialize in a particular field, you can rest assured you’ll find dentists specializing in that area, under whose guidance you can learn more. You can also explore all your options for specialization, developing an all-around understanding of what you want.

Smaller dental practices don’t have experts on all specializations. As such, your learning and experience might be restricted to the treatments offered in that particular clinic. This can be a problem because young dentists should generally explore all their options before deciding on a specialization. The alternative is to find a dental clinic specializing in the area you’d like to explore, such as implantology, but that also risks pigeon-holing you into a particular area.

There’s no clear answer when choosing a particular type of dental clinic — both large and small clinics have their unique advantages and drawbacks. As such, you should consider all the factors mentioned above and your personality to make the correct decision.