Live Dental Implant Training

I just had perhaps the most amazing dental experience of my career. The trip to Dominican Republic was inspirational, educational, and lots of fun as well. Because I was stranded in Miami for an extra day, I had the opportunity to meet and better get to know a handful of doctors that I otherwise would not have met. I am blessed to have shared my DR experience with these fine doctors. My time in Santo Domingo was truly enriched simply by knowing these men. I am thrilled and exhausted and still yearning for more out of this program! Working with a dedicated group of volunteers wasn't the only part, or even the best part: the clinical assistants were so very helpful, and the faculty was indispensable. Those visiting faculty members, like Dr. Gary Hughes and Dr. Jim Schummacher, have so much to give--and give they did. I learned something from each of them with every encounter I had, both patient-related and non-patient-related. The lead faculty members were amazing. I could not be the doctor I am today without their educational and professional guidance during the past several days, and so a very special "Thank You" to Dr. Rossi, who taught me early and often--clinically and radiographically--and helped me catch up; to Dr. 'Leo', who provided strong support also, in and out of the clinic; and to Dr. Toro, who unknowingly revealed not only a commanding surgical skill in performing dentoalveolar surgery, but also a capacity to teach it with a deft touch and simple, straight-forward approach. If I keep writing , I will run out of superlatives to explain how I have been affected by this program, but I would be remiss without stating that Cristina is some special person. She followed up with me, and my wife, at all hours of the day and night, as necessary, to get me through; she continued to bolster my experience, and that of every other participant, during the entire trip. She complements Dr. Garg seamlessly. As for Arun Garg, well--words will fall short in describing is enthusiasm, dedication, and ability in executing this program and establishing his Foundation. Thank you again, Dr. Garg. This was and is a life-changing experience. - Dr. Pat Sweeney, DMD

Words can't express the gratitude I have for what your outreach have done for me. I came to the Dominican Republic with low expectations and very gun shy about placing implants. I have restored hundreds of implants, but have always shied away from placing them thinking only surgeons can place these predictably and safely. That all changed the first day. I was a little overwhelmed entering the school and getting a round of applause from patients lining up the alley....it was shocking and emotional. I pondered..am I here to help them, or are they here to help me? It was both. After the first two three implants placed in the first few hours, I felt at ease. Perhaps it was my partner, perhaps it was my faculty Dr. Dorado, or perhaps my assistant Caroline Guzman....I felt at ease and comfortable with what I was doing...reflecting full thickness flap, estimating drill depth with really bad pans, and successfully going through series of drill to sink in dental implants. All of a sudden, implant placement did not seem so foreign anymore. It felt natural, like prepping a crown or a filling. All I needed was encouragement and some guidance, and I was able to place implants in the proper position not perforating the cortical plate nor the sinus. The faculty are exceptional, as they provided guidance and encouragement without the chest thumping commonly seen in other instructors. I felt they have nothing to prove, they were there to help me , to teach me, to nurture the skills I already have. Towards later in the day, I felt even more at ease, I did not have to ask Dr. Dorado to inspect my work as much. It felt like finishing the fourth year of dental school. The second day, was even more fantastic. The cheering from the patients made me feel like a sports star. They were telling me...go out there and kick some implant ass. Now with my implant restorative background, I analyzed more with details about the locations of implant placement. Where does it makes sense to sink these implants. Should they patient even have implants at all. My partner and I dwell into exploratory surgery, placing full flap and seeing bone quality and ridge width, learning which angles to drill and augment drill angulations to attain proper implant placement. We ended at 9, I sweat so much, I smelled so bad, my back hurt, my leg hurt.....but it felt so good. I was a changed man, more confident in my ability as I can see the potentials I have had all along. The third day, well...I was on auto pilot. Having placed 20 implants in 2.5 days, I felt like I finished a AEGD program. Aside from the great clinical aspect, the camaraderie present throughout the outreach was exceptional. The new friends I met were exceptional. They were all great dentist seeking to make their skills even more fantastic. I never felt out of place, nor foolish asking questions. Everyone encouraged each other to become better surgeons. The dinners you had planned made everyone very engaging. The night outing, well....like I told Maria....I should have paid you extra for. Thank you again for the life changing experience. This was the best investment I have ever made towards enhancing my dental career. Cordially,Phan Nguyen, DDS

Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to thank everyone for an amazing experience. Not that I would expect anything less from Dr. Garg and his amazingly helpful entourage. Coming fresh out of dental school and starting this whole process has been extremely fulfilling. Thank you to everyone, especially the instructors and Dr. Garg for taking the time to help this rookie. Never once did I feel like people looked down on me because of my inexperience. In fact everyone seemed to go out of the way to provide that extra bit of help. I guess the best part of the whole process has been the friendships created and the fact that I now feel extremely comfortable in doing almost any procedure. The DR trip gave me the confidence and knowledge needed to excel. Who knows, hopefully I'll be able to help others in the same way.

"I don't have words to express my gratitude for the change you have made on my career. I feel great after coming back from this wonderful trip, where besides learning so much, we were able to help so many people. I never thought that after just taking your continuum I would feel so ready to start providing this so needed service to my patients. I never imagined I could feel this confident after taking your course. Going on this trip, was the best decision!!! You are surrounded by such a professional team, no detail was left behind, and I'm already signing up for the Masters series and looking so forward for ANOTHER surgical live patient trip as well."

Hello Everyone,
I have wanted to place implants for several years, but have been scared off by what the oral surgeons would say. I started the continuum course last fall. I wanted to gain as much confidence as I could before venturing on my own. The continuum course gave me core knowledge of implant placement with bone morphology. Going to the live patient course in the Dominican Republic increased my surgical skills and understanding to level beyond what I would have ever gained in my office. Dr. Garg and the wonderful instructors took me from placing my first implant on a live patient to being confident with placing implants on my own. The gratitude of the people we treated was so rewarding. Thank you, Dr. John Krupka

"This was by far the most valuable program I've participated in during my career to date. It was rewarding clinically because I got to experience lateral wall and crestal approach sinus lifts, ridge splits, and flapless surgery implant placement. It was so rewarding emotionally because the Dominican people are extremely warm, friendly, and truly appreciative of the work we did. It touched my heart to be able to bring this type of care to such wonderful people. I would highly recommend this. Dr. Garg, Chen, and Cha are a wealth of knowledge, and I will put to use what I did and learned this weekend on Monday morning. The confidence to do more procedures is priceless."

In January 2011 I was with a great group of doctors and a fantastic group of support staff that went to the Dominican Republic. I feel great pride with vast amount of procedures we were able to provide, and ultimately enhancing these patient's lives. The bonus for this trip was the ability to perform and learn a variety of procedures from simple to advanced surgical techniques on a large number of patients. Dr. Garg again put together an incredibly talented group of instructors for this event. I came away with new surgical procedures and tweaks on surgeries I was already performing in my own practice. I would highly recommend not only taking the Masters Series, but also going on this mission to the Dominican Republic. I plan on continuing and reviewing my implant studies with Dr. Garg. Thank you Arun for this opportunity to enhance my life and renew my love for Dentistry.
Truly,
Steven Treman, DDS.

Having never placed an implant before, I definitely had the jitters on my trip down to Santiago, Dominican Republic with Dr. Garg and his extremely competent staff. A live patient course was exactly what I needed, and that is what I got. By the time I left Santiago, was my confidence was at an all-time high. I had the opportunity to place close to 20 implants over a three-day period.
The close supervision I received during my training cannot be matched by any other program. That I am sure of. Besides placing implants, I had the opportunity to improve on all of my surgical skills including extractions, bone grafting, and suturing. Heck, my suturing got so good by the end, I thought about stitching myself a sweater. For those dentists in our group with more experience and needing less supervision, the opportunity for more complicated cases were endless. Aside from the vast amount of experience I received, the less privileged people of Santiago that received all of their care for free were very appreciative of our services. We truly were treated like royalty by everyone we encountered on our trip. Being a third world country, I was really impressed with the overall preparedness and pre-arrival arrangements that were taken care of by Katrina and the rest of the staff.
Probably one of the greatest assets of this course beyond the "hands-on" was the camaraderie developed with other dentists in the group. I was able to learn so much from talking to fellow attendees.
You really have to experience all of this for yourself to truly appreciate what I refer to as "the best hands-on CE ever"!
The greatest piece of advice I would give prospective students is to just do it. I went on this course after attending just the third session of the continuum and never having placed a single dental implant (in a human being at least). Thanks again to Dr. Garg and his amazing staff.

Few things are as inspiring or motivating as a group of people, many of them strangers, joining together for a common interest. There's no way I could have anticipated what to expect when I boarded the plane that Friday morning. To explain it to family and friends was " I don't know, I'm going to Santo Domingo to do some charity dentistry or something." Little did I know that I was taking the first step up a career changing path. I started placing implants around 4 years ago. When I signed up for Level 1 last year I figured it was a good way to bang out my CE credits and give myself "a little refresher course". I had no idea that first phone call would lead me to the place I am today.
Getting and staying on board with Dr. Garg is easily the most significant decision I've made in my professional career. Going to Santo Domingo was icing on the cake. It's one thing to place a couple of implants and do a sinus lift on a cadaver head. It's another, to spend an entire weekend doing it to live patients.
The techniques and procedures were put forth and taught in such a way that I had to ask myself, "How am I not doing this?" Amazing that I was performing surgeries that less than a week prior would have been quickly referred to the local specialist. As dentists, we are constantly criticizing ourselves: That margin could've been smoother. That implant could've been straighter. Yet, when Dr. Garg asked me after my final procedure of the weekend (anterior ridge split with simultaneous implant placement), "Are you impressed with yourself?" I had no problem saying yes. In fact, the sense of accomplishment was quite satisfying. Furthermore, I was surrounded by colleagues feeling the exact same thing which made it that much sweeter. Most importantly, I left with the skills intact to confidently offer these services to my patients, further establishing myself as a comprehensive care practitioner.
Finally, I loved the evenings when everyone took off their doctor hats and became regular people again. Sharing war stories and getting to know everyone injected a social aspect into this experience which created an interesting camaraderie as opposed to competition. I mean let's face it; How often do you root for the guy next to you? Here however, I found myself reveling in others' success as well as my own.
A heartfelt thanks, which goes way beyond than what can be put into words, to Dr. Garg, the surgical faculty, and THE MOST dedicated, compassionate and competent staff I have EVER had the pleasure to work with, for providing this opportunity to grow and excel both personally and professionally.

I really want to thank you for the incredible surgical weekend in Santo Domingo. As always, you & your whole team were absolutely awesome.
Being given the opportunity to perform advanced implant surgeries next to you, Dr. Chen & Dr. Cha was truly a life altering experience that I will never forget.
I gained so much more confidence in two days than I ever thought possible. Now I get to bring additional skills home & feel comfortable offering those services to my patients.
Please keep me on your invitation list for future events as I look forward to keep growing as an implantologist.

I don't have words to express my gratitude for the change you have made on my career. I feel great after coming back from this wonderful trip, where besides learning so much, we were able to help so many people. I never thought that after just taking your continuum I would feel so ready to start providing this so needed service to my patients. I never imagined I could feel this confident after taking your course. Going on this trip, was the best decision!!! You are surrounded by such a professional team, no detail was left behind, and I'm already signing up for the masters series and looking so forward for ANOTHER surgical live patient trip as well.

Thanks again for putting on a 5 star CE event. The experience, knowledge, and confidence gained during the weekend was priceless. There is only so much you can learn didactically in a lecture, in books, or in videos. Being able to do procedures like ridge splits, hydraulic lifts, lateral windows, and Chen's patented "Jam through the Gums," clinically was a privilege and words can't express how appreciative I am.
If you are a novice implantologist and are as nervous about laying flaps and suturing as I was, please run to Dr. Garg and beg him to participate at the next event. This was bar none, the best CE event I've ever taken. Also, kudos to your's and Dr. Chen's staff for putting together the perfect weekend.
Regards,
James Kim DMD

keeping it short, I just wanted to let you guys know that this experience was one of the most impressive ones for me.
I´ve been through several courses like this before, but it never was that pleasant, starting with that awesome welcome at the airport, going over that huge number of patients, the lovely evenings and the sweet staff which never lost patience although they were under heavy pressure and until last but not least the very nice group of attendants which was just a pleasure working with! So congratulations for the perfect outcome!
I´d suggest to rename implantseminars.com to www.perfectimplantseminars.com
I am looking forward to stay in touch with you guys and I can´t wait for the next course :-)
Best wishes to all of you!
Dr. Arne Von Sternheim
If you are a novice implantologist and are as nervous about laying flaps and suturing as I was, please run to Dr. Garg and beg him to participate at the next event. This was bar none, the best CE event I've ever taken. Also, kudos to your's and Dr. Chen's staff for putting together the perfect weekend.
Regards,
James Kim DMD

Thank you again for a wonderful experience! You prepared me well.. what a confidence builder! I now love this world of dentistry you've led me into. We could not have had a better team of people.. all put together by you. I want to also acknowledge our patients... what sweet people.. all I saw were smiles and "thank you"s. My staff has never seen me so jubilant upon returning from a dental "event" of any sort.