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Dentistry is changing at a fast pace. Managed care, PPO´s, high-tech platforms, implants, cosmetics... It´s often hard to figure out where you fit in or which direction you should take. Often, dentists turn to journals and our colleagues to try to make sense of it all. But how many times have you read an article in a dental newsletter or journal and said to yourself: “I don´t agree with that.” or “You missed the whole point of the argument.” or “WOW!!! That´s a good idea! I´d love to talk with that person.”?

Then you put the article down, feeling that you should write a letter to the editor explaining your position when, suddenly, the busy-ness of everyday life gets in the way - and you never find the time. The thought or desire to comment disappears. How many times have you finished reading an article in a professional journal, only to say: “I can do a better job than that.” or “How did this get published?” And do you ever wonder why you see the
same people in the same publications, all the time, writing about the same subject matter or pet project?

Now, don´t get me wrong. Most, if not all, of the dental publications are solid, information-filled and very necessary for spreading knowledge. But the problem, as I see it, is that
there are fewer and fewer people contributing while more and more are simply reading. This can be a bad omen for the future direction of dentistry.

For example, we participated in an excellent hands-on Esthetic Dentistry course at Baylor College of Dentistry a while back. The instructors (Bill Dickerson and Larry Rosenthal) were two of the finest esthetic dentists in the USA, possibly the world. They had an extraordinary amount of knowledge between them that they openly shared with our small group of 32 dentists. The skills we developed and what we learned from them was amazing!
But, looking back on this experience, we now realize that we learned just as much overall
and, regarding certain issues, even more from our interactions with the other 32 people in the group than we did from our two instructors!

Does this seem strange? Absolutely not! There is no way that two minds can compete with 32 all working towards the same goal: THE ADVANCEMENT OF DENTISTRY. I guarantee you that what we learned from our instructors was invaluable - but the sheer volume of what we learned from each other was incredible. This is not meant to be a put-down. Quite the contrary: it´s just a fact of human nature.

There is no way one, two or even a handful of people can know anywhere near what thousands of people know. And when it comes to the dissemination of knowledge and the spreading of ideas, we´d rather have access to thousands of minds, rather than two or three.
One of the biggest assets of having a controlled environment and peer review is to ensure that articles are of a good quality before they´re published. Yet that can also be a big detriment. Over the years, when the same small groups of people review what is being published and decide what should and should not be published, you get a naturally occurring censorship and bias. This isn´t done on purpose, but it happens just the same.

There are, collectively, hundreds of thousands of brains with billions of bits of information in the dental profession. Our idea in becoming part of The Global Dental NewsJournal was to make this huge resource directly and immediately accessible, and harness it for the benefit of everyone involved. But the NewsJournal and its unique forum won´t work unless YOU make the commitment to get involved. Not just involved reading the many great articles contained in the NewsJournal every month.

No, you and everyone else who gets involved must get fully involved - by offering your opinions, suggestions and ideas. THIS JOURNAL WON´T WORK WITHOUT DENTISTS. The more dentists who get involved, the better for us all and for the future of our profession.
This journal gives the majority of us an instantaneous outlet for our thoughts and ideas, and motivates us to improve. E-mail is the perfect place to make comments that will be picked up immediately by everyone - worldwide! No more wishing you had said something or remorse for not asking a question.

Yes, we have a “peer review” committee, but ours is made up of the NewsJournal readership. And its’ constant rotation ensures it won´t unknowingly stagnate. Do you have a research article or commentary you would like to publish? Would you like to submit it to a real peer review? Well, it´s just a quick e-mail away.

Most importantly, we hope this NewsJournal becomes the center of the free exchange of ideas for dentists around the world. Knowledge is a very powerful tool and the free exchange of ideas is the way our profession will advance into the 21st century. Don´t forget: you have much more to add than you think. This has been a huge undertaking involving a number of people and specialty companies. We believe it needs to be done and,
with your participation, it will be a huge success.

So, please join with us to learn and share with others around the world.

Remember: THIS IS YOUR FORUM!

The Editors