One Year Later | Mark Williamson

As soon as Panthera Dental announced the inaugural Panthera Master Cup Challenge, I knew I needed to compete. It became a personal endeavor to put my years of experience to the test. I recognized the opportunity for a dental technician to highlight their talents on superior state-of-the-art implant structures created by Panthera Dental. Leaving my comfort zone, I started my journey to showcase my years of hard work to a panel of respected colleagues in our profession.

The privilege of having been selected as one of the 10 to compete was exciting and terrifying at the same time. I had never had a group of peers evaluate my work, other than for my CDT testing years ago. I had posted some pictures of my work on social media over the years, and received nice comments, but now having committed myself to put my work out there on a world stage would become the ultimate test.

I won first place in the inaugural Panthera Master Cup in 2017! I will never forget receiving the phone call from Beatrice Robichaud with the great news. Years of dedication to the profession, continuous education courses, seminars, study-clubs, attaining my CDT, etc. were all validated. Not to mention the honor of having Panthera Dental reprint the book I had submitted for my case entry documentation.

 

Paralleling this endeavor was another challenge of my own. I wanted to someday enter the lecture circuit in Dental Technology. Having won the Panthera Master Cup increased opportunities for lecturing around the country. Along with going on the road, I have since shared presentations at LMT LabDay, in webinars, with company customers, and I have helped build business for my current employer, The Ottawa Dental Laboratory in Illinois, USA.

The sequential exposure after winning the Panthera Master Cup has been outstanding, especially on social media. I find social media to be an excellent avenue to follow some of the best technicians in the world and dental groups such as Damaged Goods on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. The feedback and kind words I have received on social media have been overwhelming and humbling.

I am thankful every day for playing my part in this profession. I am privileged to have made my hobby into a career and encourage the next generation of technicians to use my experiences to champion their own.