Eight Patients, Two Days, and No Stopping Since

Written by: Dr. Kaveen Ramnarine, DDS, MBA, FAAID, FICOI, DICOI

I graduated in 2001 and immediately started working with two extremely brilliant and dedicated general dentists. I was learning a lot about running a practice and dealing with patients in a private clinic. I was also given considerable freedom to hone my surgical expertise.

My wedding was set for August 2004, and I had been toying with the idea of opening my own dental practice. With my mentors' blessings, I took the professional plunge at the beginning of January 2004.

Surprisingly, everything fell into place quickly, with the office becoming busier with each passing week. So much so that I had to hire an associate dentist by the time the wedding rolled around.

I was in a career I enjoyed, and I had always been interested in implantology. Luckily, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon from Barbados ran a seminar in Trinidad in 2005. I spoke with him after the course, and he offered to return to Trinidad to assist me if I was really interested in doing implants. I jumped at the opportunity.

I booked eight patients over a two-day period, and he came to my office, where we did the cases. From that point, there was no stopping. I continued attending different seminars in Miami, Atlanta, San Diego, Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York, and I got more confident in implantology and oral surgery.

I even hosted a few mini lectures and training courses in Trinidad and invited international speakers. These were well received and well attended.

Twenty-two years and three wonderful kids later, I am part of something that I love, and I think it has made me a better clinician. I am always researching different cases, and I am very grateful to AAID for providing me so many opportunities to expand my knowledge and share what I have learned so far.

I have had some bumps along the way, but I have taken every experience (good and bad) as a teachable one. I realize that most of the time was spent not on the actual surgery, but on interacting, hearing what the patient wanted to achieve, and clearly explaining what was possible. It’s not always the same thing.

My advice is to maintain a great work-life balance and enjoy what you do. Work along with experienced mentors. You must always be open to learning more and listening.

Dr. Kaveen Ramnarine is a dental surgeon and implant specialist with over 20 years of experience placing and restoring dental implants, having completed more than 6,000 implant procedures to date. He is the first Caribbean dentist to receive Fellow status from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), and also holds Fellow and Diplomate status with the International Congress of Oral Implantologists (FICOI, DICOI).

Dr. Ramnarine earned his DDS from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Dental School and his MBA from the UWI School of Business, and furthered his implant training through Implant Seminars (Miami) and the Atlanta Dental Implant Studies program (ADIS). He currently practices at Sunny Smiles Dental Clinic, where he has served patients since 2002.