August Patients of the Week

August Patients of the Week, a set on Flickr.

About Dr Golpa | All-on-4 Experience
After graduating from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry, in 1996, Dr. Golpa became a highly sought-after and successful Cosmetic Dentist, transforming the smiles of several, of America’s most influential personalities.

“To raise new questions, a new possibility, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.”

Albert Einstein

As part of his Cosmetic Restorations, Dr. Golpa began placing Dental Implants, with an industry leading success rate, more than 16 years ago. In early in 2006, Dr. Golpa went to Portugal and began an in depth and personal study of both the surgical and prosthetic protocol, with Dr. Paulo Malo, the inventor of the All-on-4™ procedure. Immediately upon returning home, Dr. Golpa began offering this procedure and now works with All-on-Four cases routinely with patients from all over the world. Dr. Golpa has successfully performed the All-on-4 procedure on 1,048+ Arches, and performed more than 4,800 Full-mouth reconstructions. He feels that, in most cases, it provides a better and more permanent solution for his patients.

Is Dr. Golpa a Prosthodontist or Periodontist? And what make Dr. Golpa qualified in the All-on-4™ Procedure?

Dr. Golpa’s schooling consisted of General Dentistry Courses, all dentists in the United States undergo at least two years of undergraduate studies, but most complete a bachelor’s degree. This schooling is followed by four years of dental school to qualify as a “Doctor of Dental Surgery” (DDS) or “Doctor of Dental Medicine” (DMD). Dentists need to complete additional qualifications or training to carry out more complex treatments such as sedation, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and dental implants.

By nature of their general training they can carry out the majority of dental treatments such as restorative (fillings, crowns, bridges), prosthetic (dentures), endodontic (root canal) therapy, periodontal (gum) therapy, and exodontia (extraction of teeth), as well as performing examinations, radiographs (x-rays) and diagnosis. Dentists can also prescribe medications such as antibiotics, sedatives, and any other drugs used to manage the patient.

A prosthodontist is a dental specialist who is skilled in the replacement of missing teeth and the restoration of natural teeth. A prosthodontist has graduated from school and usually will have three or more years of continuing education after that.

This type of dental specialist is trained to deal with complicated and simple restorations of the whole mouth as well as treating facial deformities. Common procedures treated by a prosthodontist may include dentures, partial dentures, fixed bridges, crowns, implants, veneers and more.

A periodontist is a dental specialist that has not only completed 4 years of dental school, but has also completed an additional 3 years of specialty training in diagnosing, preventing and treating gum disease. Periodontists can also place dental implants as well as perform cosmetic periodontal treatments.

“Experience is a truer guide than the words of others”

Leonardo Da Vinci

The All-on-4™ is not taught in any formal Dental School, the technique is learned through advanced training and EXPERIENCE. Dr. Golpa has taken thousands of hours of advanced training, as well as taught several courses in Advanced Dentistry. One can easily tell the difference between education and experience. In regards to education, you will attain knowledge preferably from fine print materials, such as the theory learned through textbooks and the like. Hence, it is what you generally learn at school, knowing that schools primarily employ the book-based system of learning. On the contrary, experience offers knowledge based on any other aspect, other than the sources just mentioned. It is a very broad concept that consists of both knowledge and skills.

One can gain experience by being involved in a certain endeavor, like doing on-the-job trainings, and also by being exposed to related events, like the way you learn to play an instrument, by actually playing it. Having been exposed to various set-ups, a person with great experience can be regarded as an expert of that field, or set-up. That’s why many scientists and philosophers alike hail experience as the father of all education. It derives knowledge from empirical data. It is something that you can get from using your senses. Hence, the knowledge obtained by experience is accepted as empirical knowledge.

“Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.”

Bill Gates