Dawson Academy
with Dr. Leonard A. Hess
Comprehensive · Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced · Lecture, Online Self-Paced
AI Researched CE Compass Brief
AI Researched Review Brief
The Dawson Academy, founded by Dr. Peter E. Dawson in 1979, teaches Complete Dentistry, a principle driven approach that looks at the entire masticatory system rather than one tooth at a time. Its seven course Core Curriculum moves from occlusion and smile design through examination, treatment planning, equilibration, esthetics, and advanced problem solving, so dentists build one framework for stable, predictable restorative care.
What makes the experience different:
- Learn from a faculty led by Clinical Director Dr. Leonard Hess, who practices full time at his comprehensive practice in Charlotte, North Carolina, joined the Dawson faculty in 2009, and serves on the Inside Dentistry editorial board.
- Study with practicing dentists, most of whom maintain full time fee for service practices.
- Progress through seven Core courses: Occlusion and Smile Design, Examination and Records, Treatment Planning, Equilibration and Orthotics, Diagnosis and Airway, Predictable Esthetics, and Advanced Problem Solving.
- Practice hands on in several Core courses, including examination and records, equilibration and orthotics, and predictable esthetics, alongside seminars and real case studies.
- Choose from on location courses at sites across the U.S., live stream and on demand options, and a mini residency that bundles the Core Curriculum so dentists can become a Dawson Scholar in just over a year.
- Keep learning through monthly study clubs, including Scholar Study Clubs for graduates, and an alumni community of more than 40,000 worldwide.
Best practical takeaways:
- A repeatable comprehensive exam and accurate records process
- Occlusal principles that connect function with smile design
- A programmed treatment planning approach using reshaping, repositioning, restoring, and surgical correction
- Trial equilibration and occlusal therapy across several case types
- Predictable anterior esthetic restorative procedures
- Strategies for extreme wear, open bites, deep overbites, Class III cases, and vertical dimension
- Clearer patient communication that supports case acceptance
Clinical distinction: The Dawson Academy is not a quick occlusion refresher or a single esthetics workshop. Its value is a progressive curriculum in which occlusion, examination, records, treatment planning, equilibration, and esthetics are taught as parts of one philosophy, so dentists can plan care that keeps the whole chewing system in balance.
Best for: general and restorative dentists who want an occlusion centered framework for moving beyond single tooth dentistry, along with the specialists and labs who work with them. It rewards dentists willing to complete the Core sequence and put its exam, records, and planning protocols into daily practice, and Occlusion and Smile Design is the natural place to start.