Core 1: Occlusion & Smile Design
About This Event
Core 1: Occlusion & Smile Design is the first course in The Dawson Academy’s Core Curriculum. Over two days (seminar hours 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT), clinicians learn the requirements for occlusal stability and predictable restorative and esthetic outcomes—from comprehensive examination and diagnostic records to treatment planning and practice integration. The program combines foundational occlusal principles with modern analog and digital workflows and includes added material on patient communication, case acceptance, converting to a fee-for-service model, and business implementation. Attendees will learn to diagnose TMD-related issues and orthotic/splint therapy, identify airway and bite risks prior to treatment, design stable minimal-stress occlusions for teeth and implants, and apply checklists for functional-esthetic analysis. The course emphasizes outcomes that reduce complications (porcelain chips/breakage), save chair time, increase profitability, and improve patient-centered care and long-term predictability.
Learning Objectives
- Visualize the journey from an insurance-focused level of care to a patient-focused, health-oriented model
- Discover why the most productive practices only need 10-12 new patients per month
- Convert the dental practice to fee-for-service with ease and predictability
- Motivate patients towards a higher level of health to ethically boost productivity per hour
- Identify the 11 factors critical to a stable occlusion resulting in the long-term success of general and cosmetic cases
- Gain confidence in diagnosing TMD-related issues and how to provide appropriate, successful orthotic/splint therapy
- Understand the treatment planning relationship between the face, airway, and bite and how to identify, prior to treatment, which patients pose a risk of future instability
- Eliminate porcelain chips and breakage, and uncover how these issues can erode profitability more than dentists realize
- Determine tooth positioning for orthodontics, veneers, crowns, or implant-supported restorations
- Utilize checklists for functional-esthetic analysis and treatment planning
- Define a thorough examination process and how to implement in practice by employing diagnostic records for complete diagnosis and treatment planning
- Recognize how designing a stable, minimal-stress occlusion on teeth or implants saves time, increases profitability, and reduces stress