Dr. Robert Margeas says a new advanced dental education center in Des Moines will help many dentists cut down on travel time and expenses as they work to meet their profession’s continuing education requirements.

The Iowa Dental Group and Center for Advanced Education, completed last October, held its first hands-on course this past weekend for 18 dentists from across Iowa and Minnesota. Margeas and Dr. Paul Polydoran are the founders of the center, which is in the lower level of their new $1.5 million, 5,000-square-foot building at 1233 63rd St. Their practice, the Iowa Dental Group, is on the upper level.

Margeas and Polydoran combined practices in 2001 and were too cramped in a 1,000-square-foot office. As they considered a new office space, the idea for the education center was conceived.

“Dr. Polydoran was the one who really encouraged me to do this,” Margeas said. “He knew that I’d been teaching for years, so he pushed me into building the building and the teaching center and gave me the confidence to do it myself.”

Margeas, an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, travels the country teaching and lecturing. He also travels to Canada and Bermuda as a regular presenter.

“I’ve felt that because I was going to all these different places to lecture and do hands-on training, that it was taking away from my practice,” Margeas said. “Instead of me going to them, It makes sense to bring them to me.”

Margeas also recognized a need for dentists to have a centrally located advanced education center with courses approved by the Iowa Board of Dental Examiners.

“The University of Iowa has continuing education at the dental school, but not that often,” Margeas said. “Dentists have had to travel quite a ways to different institutes set up around the country in places such as Las Vegas, Seattle, New York, Chicago.”

Margeas knew that cost of traveling to one of the private institutes, tuition and lost time are a concern for many dentists and may prevent them from taking the latest courses.

“For Iowa dentists, they can come to Des Moines without having to be out of their office as much, and they get the same quality continuing education here as they would if they went to Chicago or Las Vegas or somewhere else,” he said. “We are doing it at a reasonable fee compared to other people across the country. We are maybe half the total fee.”

West Des Moines dentist Richard Apodaca said a learning center such as this one is “long overdue, not only in Des Moines, but in Iowa as a whole.” Getting top-notch courses at a lower rate is an ideal combination.

“I can’t overemphasize the outstanding physicians and the excellent facility,” Apodaca said. “Margeas and Polydoran are very knowledgeable in occlusion, which then affects the cosmetic dentistry that is done.”

In the education center, dentists will take courses in different disciplines of dentistry, such as implants, bonding, veneers, crowns and occlusive problems. They will see live demonstrations and then practice the techniques on mannequins. Hands-on courses are limited to 18, but will be offered once or twice each month, Margeas said.

“We teach the latest techniques in aesthetic or cosmetic dentistry,” he said. “When you see ‘Extreme Makeover’ or ‘The Swan,’ people are coming in asking for that type of dentistry. We teach other dentists how to be able to do those procedures.”

In addition to affordability and convenience, the center will offer dentists the opportunity to learn from some of the best practicioners in the nation, using some of the best products. Margeas’ connections in the teaching and lecturing circuit give him ties to many of the nation’s top dental instructors.

“Along with Dr. Polydoran and myself, we have dentists from all over the country—New York, Beverly Hills, the University of Iowa—who will teach here because they have a passion for what they do,” Margeas said.

Dr. Robert Nixon, one of the co-directors of the teaching center and one of Margeas’ mentors, will be a regular instructor. “He does smiles for a lot of famous people in Beverly Hills,” Margeas said. Another mentor and Iowa native, Dr. K. William “Buddy” Moppert, founder of Cosmedent, will also teach a course at the center.

The center’s use of the well-known names and hot topics in dentistry have drawn attention from manufacturers, a benefit Margeas didn’t predict would have such a great impact on the center.

“We have companies calling us and wanting us to try their products because they see we’re on the cutting edge, and if we can get their product out the doctors we’re training, it could mean success for that company,” he said. “We pick the best of the best products and are able to expose the dentists on what’s hot and what’s not.”

California-based da Vinci Dental Studios, a dental-veneer maker Margeas has worked with for 18 years and a supplier to the popular TV makeover shows, will sponsor and provide products for the center’s upcoming course on porcelain veneers.

“My theory with hand-on training is that you can’t learn without having the material in your hands,” he said. “Our motto is to share the knowledge because we want dentists to be better dentists.”

Margeas said he was pleased with the support area dentists have shown for the advanced education center. Apodaca said bringing local dentists together for learning helps foster strong working relationships within the profession.

“The compatibility and camaraderie of dentists working together far exceeds dentists competing against one another,” Apodaca said.

“We have great respect for the dentists from Des Moines, and our goal is to train as many dentists as we can to do these procedures and to do them well because there’s enough dentistry for everybody.”

With the first course completed, Margeas said, he and Polydoran plan to market the center nationally. In conjunction with this, the center is in the process of applying for national accreditation, which should help bring a steady flow of dentists to Greater Des Moines.

“They (dentists) stay in hotels and go to restaurants, so it’s good for the economy, not just for us,” Margeas said.