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Dr. Adamo Notarantonio: Expert Advice
68 Plays6 months ago
n our latest podcast episode, Dr. Tanya Sue Maestas chats with the renowned dentist, Dr. Adamo Notaratonio, who shares his top advice for young dentists.
Dr. Adamo emphasizes the importance of patience and taking the time to learn and grow in the dental field.
He warns against the pitfalls of comparing yourself to others on social media and stresses the need to focus on personal growth and improvement.
About the Guest:
Adamo Notarantonio is a highly respected figure in the field of dentistry, known for his commitment to comprehensive dental care and education. With a history of working closely with industry-leading institutions and mentors, Adamo has built a robust career characterized by his dedication to continued learning and clinical excellence. He served as a partner in a well-regarded dental practice straight from his residency until recently stepping down to focus more on his educational endeavors, including being faculty at the Koi Center. Renowned for both his surgical and restorative dentistry skills, Adamo is also noted for his significant contributions to the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD)
Episode Summary:
In the latest deep dive into the heart of the dental profession, guest expert Adamo Notaratonio shares a blend of personal anecdotes and professional wisdom that is indispensable for practitioners at all stages of their dental careers. The conversation orbits around the importance of a measured and patient approach to learning and growth in the field of dentistry, with an emphasis on quality over speed. Adamo's insights serve as a beacon for both the seasoned dentist and those new to the craft, highlighting the significance of absorption and application of knowledge at a personalized pace.
Key Takeaways:
- Avoid Overcommitment: Adamo advises against taking on more than one can handle in the field of dentistry, emphasizing the importance of work-life balance.
- Embrace the Journey: Learning in dentistry should be at a comfortable pace, not rushed to acquire professional accolades or social media recognition.
- Recognize the Illusion of Perfection: Social media as a "highlight reel" should not be used as a barometer for success or skill.
- The Value of Patience: A gradual, well-paced educational spanning years surpasses a hurried, superficial learning experience that can lead to clinical mistakes.
- Constant Growth: Professional development is an ongoing process, with room for improvement and learning from failures.
Connect with Adamo Notarantonio : @adamoelvis
Connect with Ignitedds: @ignitedds
Connect with Tanya Sue Maestas: @tsmaestas.dds
Learn more about Well Received: wellreceived.com/ignitedds
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Transcript
Exploring the Unspoken Aspects of Dental Experiences
00:00:00
Speaker
Dental Fuel, the podcast that focuses on what no one else is talking about. Mistakes. The dental world is full of before and afters and no one is talking about the middle. Dental Fuel brings you the unspoken in-between. Welcome back to another episode of Dental Fuel.
Sponsorship and Special Offer
00:00:17
Speaker
This episode of Dental Fuel is brought to you by Well-Received. Did you know 69% of patients say they would switch providers for a better experience? To level up your practice, you need to ensure your patient experience is better than your competitors. So where do you start? From the very first hello. While received is a 24-7 answering service for dental practices. Their team of professional receptionists are on hand 24-7 to support your callers. That's day and night.
00:00:46
Speaker
365 days a year. Set your practice apart by guaranteeing your patient's calls are answered quickly and by a real person every single time. Ready to level up your patient experience? As a dental fuel listener, you can enjoy an exclusive 50% off your first three months of service. Head to wellreceived.com slash IgniteDDS to get started. Our conversation with Dr. Adamo is coming to a close, and in this last episode, Adamo shares some expert advice. Let's check it out. We've shared some excellent pearls, especially the It's a Mindset. Love that. I may have to watch that section a few times over. I think that was really excellent. You know that that's going to be probably a blurb somewhere, a little ah little section that we replay.
00:01:32
Speaker
But I would love if you would share a top tip, top advice that you would like to share with our listeners, with me, um those who are glowing growing in their knowledge of dentistry. What would be that number one advice that you'd like to share?
Balancing Passion and Workload in Dentistry
00:01:48
Speaker
I'll say it from personal experience. Don't overdo it. Take a step back. I mean, dentistry is amazing. We're in an amazing profession, especially now with technology. The things we can do for people is outstanding. And I am probably one of the biggest culprits of taking on more than I can chew. And I still have passion and fire for it. But over time, you'll get tired, right? And I promised myself that I would never go to work and say, i God, I wish I wasn't here. Because as busy as I am and as much as I have on my plate, I've never said that.
00:02:33
Speaker
But I also learned over the last couple of years that, hey, you know what? If I keep lecturing 49 weeks a year, it's going to be a problem. So now I don't speak June, July and August, and I go on my vacations, which I never used to take. And I play my golf and do the things that I spend time with my family.
Embracing Patience and Personal Growth
00:02:53
Speaker
so
00:02:56
Speaker
I think with social media, everybody's so like gung-ho with everything and everybody wants to get done so fast. They want to finish course in a year and they want to become accredited and in two months and it's patience, right? Enjoy the ride while you're going through it because you can't possibly soak up all that knowledge that you would learn at the course center in a year. I mean, there's very few people I think that could retain that. so You know, I took me seven years to graduate course. People look at me and say, Oh my God, you accomplished a lot. And I appreciate it. And it's really humbling. I'm 20 years into practice. So I've been doing this a minute. Um, I didn't get accredited, you know, get, do my accreditation two months out of school and then finish course and do it. It didn't happen that way. Right. It took time and it took patience and it took failure. Right. To, to get to the level that I'm at and I'm not done.
00:03:48
Speaker
Right? So I always think there's room for improvement, but I think you need to take a step back and and enjoy it and learn it properly. Don't just learn it for the letters that go at the end. I don't need any more letters at the end of my name, right? So I don't want any. I never did anything because I needed it for anything. I did it because I want it to be better and I want it to be better for myself and I want it to be better for my patients. And that's why I'm able to do the things that I do today in office. and out of office because I put the time and I did it properly. And I think with social media and I think with the fees of which we get everything, you know, you want food, you hit DoorDash, you want groceries, you hit Instagram, you don't even have to move anymore. um that's That's a bad mindset, right? It's too fast. Slow down and do it right because if you do it too quick and don't learn, the only person that's gonna know that is you when you mess up in the operator And that's never a good day, right?
Avoiding Comparisons with Social Media
00:04:50
Speaker
So I think patience is what I would tell everyone, every young dentist, I know it's exciting and I know the stuff you see on social media looks glamorous. I promise if you followed me around for a month, you'd say, I don't want your life because you're out of your mind um with how much gets done in a month. But it's all amazing and I love it, but I never rushed it, right? I just let it come to me. And I think everyone needs to take a step back.
00:05:17
Speaker
ah and and learn things at the pace that works for them and implement it at that pace, and your growth will happen. Everybody's gonna grow a little different, but it doesn't mean that everybody can't reach the same level of expertise. That was excellent. as ah As a young dentist who, you know, ah you know admires many greats like yourself and and others who post wonderful cases on social media. And I know you you had you spoke to somebody else and you said, you know, they usually just post the good stuff. they They never really post the failures. But it's really hard to stay in your lane and not compare yourself when you want to achieve greatness and you want to be
00:05:55
Speaker
You know, the best that you can possibly be. So I think that that's excellent advice to to be patient, um take the courses that you need to take, gain the knowledge that you need so that way you can become that better clinician. But your pace will come. that That goal that you're striving to will come in time. Yeah. You know, I have a quote in one of my lectures and it says, content is fire and social media is gasoline. And it couldn't be more true. um I mean, listen, it's a highlight reel, right? It's not reality. I could, if I scroll through my phone right now, you'd find at least a thousand before and afters that I bet you, if I posted would go viral, but I noticed something wrong, right? I wouldn't have noticed this 10 years ago, but I noticed that the line angles offer. I noticed that like there's a value difference and most people just starting, especially would never even see that because their eye isn't trained yet.
00:06:47
Speaker
But when you get to that point, you become hard on yourself like I am, but I'm okay with that, right? I do not let that dictate my day. I just learned from it. So for those of you who, and I get messages all the time, people tell me I'm going to delete my Instagram because I'll never do work. Yes, you can do work like that. The problem is you want to do it now and you're not ready yet. And that's okay because 10 years ago, my photos didn't look like they do now. My cases didn't look, I mean, I'm reviewing all my fellowship cases once a week. And I pull some of them up and I'm like, Oh my God, I did that. And it passed. Right. So yeah that's, that's great. That's a great feeling because it means that I grew. And I think that's, that's the, that's and the mindset you need to keep. You don't, it doesn't, there's no such thing as perfect. Right. And people that post perfect and they say they do that all the time, they lie. They lie completely. So don't let anybody fool you. Again, I make more mistakes than the positive ones that I post, but I learned from them.
00:07:46
Speaker
and everyone makes me better. So i that would be the last thing I say to any listener, take social media for what it's worth, right? I make great people on it. I advertise my courses on it. Yes, there's some discussion at dentistry, but I don't take the dentistry I learned on that at all for to heart because it it is not reality. It is not reality at all. Very well said.
Connecting with Dr. Adamo
00:08:09
Speaker
Adamu, if our listeners would like to connect with you, what's the best way?
00:08:15
Speaker
They could message me on Instagram. I'm pretty good at um answering that. Or they can, they're welcome to email me. My email is the same as my Instagram. It's Adamo Elvis. Everything in my life is Adamo Elvis at gmail dot.com. So feel free to shoot me an email if they have questions and so on and so forth. Wait real quick. ah Why, why Adamo Elvis? Tell me your passion and love for Elvis. When I was born, my father wanted to name me Elvis. My mother threatened divorce, so I got named Adamo Elvis. So Elvis is really my middle name. That's awesome. Very cool. Very cool. If ah if our listeners would like to take a course with you, what would you recommend the first course be that they
Recommended Educational Resources
00:08:57
Speaker
take with you? ah That's an awesome question. So I would say one of two of my courses, and we were going to make one of them mandatory, but we have not yet. We'll see in the future. ah Either my photography course with Amanda at Impress, it's called Kaleidoscope.
00:09:12
Speaker
or our course called Nexus, which is our rubber dam and bonding course because I think that is the staple for all good dentistry and everybody should know how to isolate properly and how to bond to any substrate from tooth to porcelain to composite and so on and so forth. So um if I was to pick a first one, I would do my rubber dam one first for sure because that's the one you're gonna really, you're gonna do that Monday morning and no matter whose office you're in. Well, hopefully some of my listeners, uh, will join me because I have yet to take a course with you all. I just admire from a distance and fan and girl from a distance, but I will come out and visit both of y'all. Cause I mean rock stars, uh, I'm already a rubb damn fan, but there's, ah there's always so much to learn and a demo. I, I'm just so grateful. And I thank you so much for taking time out of your day and out of your travels to to speak with me today. It was totally my pleasure. I enjoyed it. Thank you very much.
00:10:08
Speaker
Thank you.
Enhancing Patient Communication with Well-Received
00:10:09
Speaker
Are you ready to level up your patient experience? Be sure to visit wellreceived.com slash IgniteDDS to find out how you can master patient communication and offer exceptional service 24 seven, 365 days a year while getting valuable time back to focus on growing your practice. Ladies and gentlemen, the king has left the building. We hope you enjoyed our conversation with the Dr. Adamo. Make sure that you're following him on Instagram at AdamoElvis. And make sure that you're following us on Instagram at DentalFuel and at IgniteDDS. See you next week with another guest.