Our Story

Hey!

The General Dental Conference Australia has been pumping forseveral years now. It’s been an incredible experience, seeing hundreds of young dentists increase in confidence, gain new skills and most importantly, connect with each other. Being a dentist is intense, and the friendships and professional networks we develop now will set us up for a much more enjoyable career. 

We started the General Dental Conference Australia because there wasn’t anything helpful for dentists, particularly in the most foundational years of our career. Normally, we’d feel like the awkward ones at an event; the ones asking stupid questions because we had the least experience (at least that’s how it felt). And let's not get started on the sandwiches... So GDCA was born. We’re not affiliated with any dental insurance company, or a big organisation, just two friends who simply didn’t think that the environment created or the material being presented were helping us in the key facets of our career and life. We've grown since then too - we've started our own dental practice, and run a few young dentist conferences since then. 

Through our own journey and interactions, we felt the need to create something helpful to navigate the increasing levels of anxiety and depression in our profession. Every day, we sit in a small room, staring at the mouths of countless anxious patients who don't want to be there. If a procedure goes well, great, if we fracture a file in a molar, not great... We also live in a society that expects perfection from our profession, the most impossible task for someone who will make the most mistakes in our first 10 years out. 

The value of a supportive environment can't be understated. We want to make openness with your peers easy, not awkward. We want to create an environment where you can be you, warts and all. No judgement. And, we want to connect you with the best specialists in dentistry who understand these ideas, and who are more then willing to help you improve in your clinical abilities - experts who get that we are all human and make mistakes.

Our general dentist conferences offer an opportunity for all this and more. Reconnect with uni mates from all over Australia, and hopefully make new ones. Listen to experts who talk on the topics that matter to you right now, pepper them with questions about your current cases, chow down some delicious food with mates old and new, and then grab a vino at the end of the day.

Let's chat at the next GDCA.

Luke and Justin