Dentistry is classified into many specialties, including root canal treatment, orthodontic treatment, oral surgery and dental restoration/prosthetic treatment. It is becoming increasingly difficult to master all specialties in the medical world, which is subject to constant advancement. Japan is a kind of exception in developed countries, because a single dentist handles general dental treatment. The success rate will be much higher, and the recurrence rate will be very low if specialists in different areas cooperate on the treatment of different issues. In this way, Japan’s dentistry has fallen significantly behind that of other countries. Even after I opened my own clinic in 1992, I continued to learn state-of-the-art dental treatment from Europe and the U.S. I happened to come across Team Atlanta, an American dental specialist group for integrated dental treatment, while participating in academic meetings worldwide and continuing research at the university. Finding such team-based medical care to be the ideal dental practice, I was determined to introduce it to Japan. If a clinic tries to provide team medical care, someone will have to be the leader and the relationship among team members will not be equal. I wanted to set up a dental office with several independent clinics that are run by specialists independently, so they could take responsibility for their area of specialty to realize true team dental care. However, the local public health center did not provide approval, because there was no precedent in Japan. I thought it was wrong that they provided no clear reason why they did not approve our proposed style. I went to the health center many times so they could understand the need for team dental care.
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