Mentoring in Dentistry

Dental practitioners face the daunting task of mastering the many fields of knowledge necessary for the practice of dentistry. The complexity and scope of this knowledge continue to expand, as does the difficulty of converting the knowledge into understanding. Based on the author's work in dental education, and the work of others, this article explores the potential benefits of mentoring in dentistry. It discusses the conceptual role of a mentor and compares this to the roles of coach and supervisor. Possible reasons for the low utilisation of mentoring in dentistry are explored, which include misunderstandings related to the nature of a mentor-mentee relationship, a lack of training in mentoring and poor access to mentors for potential mentees. Suggestions are made for regional and national organisations to facilitate the formation of structured mentoring frameworks in dentistry and for academic bodies to provide training in mentorship.