Dental Asia November/December 2021

Under the Spotlight
Forging ahead
to make the
world smile
Dr Otani Kazunori, a
prosthodontist and director of
Otani Dental Clinic, has more
than two decades of dental
practice. Passionate in restoring
and maintaining oral function,
he shares a glimpse of his career
and what dental professionals
can expect from his lecture in
the upcoming Fifth International
Dental Symposium on 16 to 17 April
2022 in Tokyo, Japan.
What are the factors that have
influenced your decision in pursuing a
career in dentistry?
Dr Otani: My father is a dentist, and I grew
up in an environment where his dental
clinic was located on the same premises
as my home. Since then, I started thinking
about dentistry as a career option. I was
also influenced by the daily clinical training
and clinical inquisitiveness of the senior
students in the Department of Crown and
Bridge programmes at Nihon University
School of Dentistry, Japan, where I was
enrolled after my undergraduate degree.
Why did you choose to specialise in
prosthodontics, and what is the most
fulfilling aspect of it?
I have been interested in the field
of prosthodontics since I was an
undergraduate student, so I joined the
prosthodontics programme at graduate
school. The professor of that course took
good care of my extracurricular activities
(club activities) in university.
Currently, patients with various complaints
visit my daily clinical practice. Most of the
treatments is for missing tooth or teeth,
but some patients may be treated for the
entire jaw. In full-mouth reconstruction,
defect treatment on an oral basis and
recovery of function must be considered.
When I get the expected treatment results,
I feel glad that I gained experience in
handling those cases by specialising in the
prosthodontic field.
What is the most challenging case
you have handled, and how did you
overcome it?
A symptomatic TMJ patient had a difficult
case of a full-mouth reconstruction
with occlusal height modifications. We
were able to overcome this problem by
adapting a diagnostic splint, pursuing
jaw position by occlusal analysis, and
setting the final prosthesis after multiple
evaluations with provisional restorations.
As chairman of the Study Group
Esthetic Explorers, what is your
vision for it?
Since many young dentists participate
in this study group, I am conscious of
organising a study group that is not
biased towards any particular field,
but rather provides a good balance
of prosthetic treatment, conservative
treatment, periodontal treatment, and
implants. I hope that dentists of the
study group will be able to increase the
number of their treatment options.
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DENTAL ASIA NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021