STORIES OF SUCCESS

My name is Minh Nguyen and I live in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

When I was a pupil at high school, I always dreamed of becoming an architect or an interior designer because I had a gift and passion in drawing and painting. But when I took the entrance exam, my grades were not good enough to be accepted at the university. I was disappointed and very unhappy about the outcome of my exam and had no idea which profession I should take. That was in 1997.

At a family gathering I met an uncle who is a dentistry professor. He knew what had happened, told me about the profession of a dental technician and the necessary prerequisites like artistic talent and meticulousness. I realised that I could definitely put my passion and talent to good use in this profession. So I decided to take the next exam at the Dental Technology University in Ho Chi Minh City. I passed the exam and I started studying dental technology.

In the year 2000 I graduated at the Ho Chi Minh Medicine and Pharmacy University with honours, went back home to Hanoi and immediately began to work as a dental technician at a small dental laboratory.

In 2003 I established my own laboratory. But after working for eight years in the dental business, I still was not satisfied with the quality of my ceramic restorations. I didn’t know how to create better and more naturally looking artificial dentition.

Looking for a solution I watched videos of dental technicians making excellent work on YouTube.  I asked myself how it is possible to produce such natural looking restorations. I absolutely wanted to know how they are able to do such excellent work. To find the answers, I needed to leave Vietnam and I decided to find employment abroad. In 2008 I gave up my laboratory in Hanoi and moved to Romania where I got an employment at Novadent Arad.

I soon realised that my skill level at that time was not sufficient for the technical requirements in Romania. It was clear at the very first day when I was asked to embed dental works and could not meet the high requirements of my manager and the lab owner. From this day I worked hard, tirelessly and concentrated to improve my skills. Already after one month my results were much better. I worked faster and more creative and was able to meet the demands much better. With time and the continuous support by my colleagues and my boss, but also through hard work and discipline, I was finally able to create ceramic restorations looking like natural teeth.

After I had found the answers to my questions during the four years in Romania, I wanted to share my acquired skills and knowledge with my fellow men to increase the quality level of technicians in Vietnam. So, I went back to my home country and started to teach at the Hanoi Medical School as a practice teacher.

As I wanted to have more time improving my technical skills, I established Dong A Dental Laboratory in 2016. I had matured as a dental technician and developed my skills to be in a position to create restorations with natural aesthetics. Since then it has been a pleasure for me to create beautiful smiles and to make people happy with my work.

I was invited twice by the Vietnamese dental dealer Viet Dang Company to do live demonstrations using Creation Willi Geller and to perform porcelain layering techniques at the International Dental Conference in 2018 and 2019 in Hanoi.

Training and work experience:

• 2000: vocational training at Ho Chi Minh Medicine and Pharmacy University
• 2008: work experience abroad at Novadent Arad, Romania
• 2012: practice teacher at the Hanoi Medical School
• 2016 until today: own laboratory Dong A Dental Laboratory

What is your inspiration and motivation? What drives you forward?

I love my work as a dental technician as every restoration is a unique piece of art imitating nature respectively teeth. The feeling is inspiring, and it gives me satisfaction when I can contribute to the positive change in the appearance of a patient giving him or her happiness and self-confidence. If you love art, you become an artist every time you create a restoration. In addition, I am motivated by the many contacts with dental technicians all over the world who exchange ideas and are passionate about their profession. And last but not least my profession guarantees a financial gain for myself and my family.

Which advice would you like to give young dental technicians on their way?

My advice: be persistent and never give up. Do one thing a thousand times instead of doing one thousand things at a time. Skills and experience will be gained from hard work and determination. Study and observe the natural teeth and learn from it.