Dr. Sammy Noumbissi is a dental surgeon and provider who changed the game decades ago by adding ceramic implants to his repertoire. While other dentists continued to use titanium implants.

Dr. Noumbissi built his practice by listening to his patients. His first decade as a dentist was traditional, working as a general practitioner and using titanium implants. But when he returned to practice on the east coast, he started to work with a different type of patient. The patients in his neighborhood prefer a holistic approach, and they began to ask questions about the kinds of materials he was using in his implants.

Today, our patients have the same access to information that we do and often come into the office with in-depth questions or recommendations of the kinds of treatments they want to have. Dr. Noumbissi recommends that dentists humble themselves and listen to their patients. Then, when they come to us with questions about new procedures or technology, you can take it as an opportunity to learn.

Because ceramic implants will not be for your conventional patient, Dr. Noumbissi goes through the protocol he uses to determine if his patient is the right fit for ceramic implants. We discuss the systematic approach he uses to assess patients’ health and lifestyles and how it will impact how patients react to different implant materials.

Dentistry isn’t the typical industry that is run by consumers, except when it comes to implants. But until dentists get involved with these new media and materials, the market will always be missing something. Ceramic implants need the eyes of multiple dentists on them. We are the ones who know teeth the best, and we will think of the solutions necessary to improve these products for our patients. Change like this isn’t easy, but it can get easier with dentists like Dr. Noumbissi running ahead for us.