At this time of year, we tend to look forward to what the future holds. Perhaps even more so this year given the challenges that 2020 has provided. Finally, there appears to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Several vaccinations against COVID-19 are due to be released imminently. They may already be in circulation as you read this, and for many of us, thoughts turn to the future of dentistry.

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COVID-19 has undoubtedly had a devastating effect on dentistry and allied professions, but it also provides an opportunity to reset our ideas of what dentistry should be. With contract reform on the horizon, the age-old question of what dentistry should be returns like a bad penny.

Talk often centres on the idea of a core NHS service, providing essential dentistry to as many people as possible. Theoretically, this means that dentists can focus on being healthcare providers while reducing costs incurred to the state. But there are a significant number of practitioners that seem not to want to focus on the healthcare side of dentistry, and more worryingly, there are young people entering dentistry whose main aim is to be a 'private' or 'cosmetic' dentist.

Of course, experienced practitioners wanting to provide cosmetic, elective treatment to patients is routine. There will always be a market for such treatment, and people who seek cosmetic dentistry are deserving of care. But, without wanting to sound too 'bah-humbug', for trainee dentists to be already focusing on providing advanced cosmetic dentistry is problematic. Dentistry is, and forever should be, first and foremost, healthcare. By its very nature, there will always be an aesthetic component to dentistry, but concentrating solely on this outcome is to do a disservice to patients.

How has it come to this? Undoubtedly social media and associated influencers have a role to play. Becoming 'Instagram famous' now seems a valid part of many a dentist's career pathway. People sell courses and books on how to use social media to your business advantage. Is this what we want dentistry to become in the future? Do we want patients to judge us based on how well we edit our clinical photos and how many posts we have with bright white smiles?

Our best advertisement has traditionally been by word of mouth, and despite what the marketers tell you, this will continue for the foreseeable future. Rather than focusing on what hashtag to use on our social media posts, maybe we should be thinking about complementing our clinical skills with non-clinical skills. How we connect with the patient in the chair is what those patients care about, and it's what they're able to judge.

It's not that long ago that the only advertising we were allowed was the brass plaque outside the practice. Anything else was considered too commercial. Too vulgar. That ghost of dentistry past has faded into history. We have moved with the times, and rightly so, but the future of dentistry doesn't need an Instagram filter applied to it. It needs communication.