Specialist Dental Group has launched an on-going series of blog posts by our individual dental specialists. All views provided are the dentist’s own opinions and are posted on this blog as part of our on-going efforts to educate the public about dental issues and other matters of interest relating to dentistry and healthcare.

I have been serving as a Prosthodontics Board examiner of the Royal College of Dentists (Canada) since 2006. This is an examination that Canadian dental specialists may take after they have successfully finished a minimum of three years of full time specialty training upon completion of their basic dental degree. In other words, one is qualified to take an exam like this only after about 10 years of university level education.

During my years as an examiner, I have seen a few changes in the examination format, which understandably, is a part of the natural evolution of any process.

Prosthodontics candidates usually prepare for their examination in parallel with the American Board of Prosthodontics examination due to the similarity between the Canadian and American specialty examination formats. Many have sat for both the Canadian specialty board and American specialty board examinations one after the other.

Some people have wondered, in the past, whether the specialty examinations were a barrier set up by the ‘old boys’ to ‘limit’ the total number of specialists in the industry.

After being in the examination process this long, I would say that the one and only yardstick that the examiners go by is to verify that a candidate possesses sufficient proficiency of his or her specialty knowledge base to safely work at a specialist level so that the public is protected.

The bottom line is that the examination process is fair!

Dr. Ansgar C. Cheng is a Dental Specialist in Prosthodontics (Teeth Replacement) with Specialist Dental Group. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with the National University of Singapore.  He has a special interest in dental implants, cosmetic dentistry and treatment of  medically compromised patients, including cancer patients. For more information about Dr. Cheng, click here