Live Patient Programs: a Stepping Stone For Westlund Dental Studio

In 1996, Dr. William Dickerson made David and Robert Hancock an offer that forever changed their careers. He invited the brothers, co-owners of Westlund Dental Studio, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, to fabricate the cases for one of the first live-patient, hands-on programs at Baylor Dental School in Dallas, Texas. "We were in the right place at the right time and it was the most monumental change for us. Here we were--wanting to take our skills to the highest level but not sure how. After building a new, state-of-the-art facility in 1991, this was the opportunity we had been waiting for," says David.

Although the Hancocks had been taking Dr. Peter Dawson's courses for several years, it was the exposure to the Baylor program's live patient seminars conducted by well-known clinicians such as Dickerson and Dr. David Hornbrook that was a key turning point for their business. At the Baylor program, the dentist-attendees...