Dr. Lisa Germain P-I Brånemark Award for Lifetime Achievement Recipient

Dr. Lisa Germain, P-I Brånemark Award for Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Dr. Lisa Germain prides herself on having the ability to go the distance—and to do so with grit and grace.

Her determination has served her well throughout her career as a successful endodontist, in her long-held role as clinical director for DC Dental and her achievements as an accomplished teacher, author and artist. She’s never shied away from hard work, she instead embraces it, always staying focused on reaching her goals.

The fact that she’s a woman in a male dominated field was never a deterrent. She put in the time and effort, earning the credentials to get accepted into Boston University’s Endodontic residency with Dr. Schilder, her “dream program,” on her own merit.

“I knew I needed to be the best I could be so there was no doubt about the quality of my work, ethics and drive to succeed,” Dr. Germain said. “We all have various challenges and I chose not to make my gender one of mine. It just took grit, determination and the ability to learn from my mistakes. The best way to be taken seriously is to just do the hard work.”

That approach to her career has led to many achievements, but there isn’t one that sticks out among the others, she said. The individual victories don’t define her success; it’s her total body of work, the various areas she has mastered and her “overall creative contribution to the field of dentistry” that she takes the most pride in.

Her most recent honor came in the form of this year’s P-I Brånemark Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award was created in 2015 to honor the late Prof. Brånemark and to recognize exceptional clinicians who have advanced dentistry for society’s general well-being. Dr. Germain is honored to join the list of esteemed award winners that include Drs. Myron Nevins, Tiziano Testori, Istvan Urban, Maria Lopez Howell, Massimo Simion, Michael Cohen, Leslie Fang and Elaine Halley.

Still, it’s what she does for her patients that matters most.

“I chose endodontics because I liked the diagnostic challenges, the fact that it involves the treatment of pathology, and it appealed to my desire to contribute to the well-being of my patients by being able to relieve their pain fairly quickly,” she said. “Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than that.”

An Early Mentor

Dr. Germain’s father was the first person to believe she could do anything she set her mind to. Even though he dropped out of school after the eighth grade, he instilled in his children the importance of a good education to establishing a successful career and leading a fulfilling life.

“From a very young age, I never felt that I was limited by the fact that I was a ‘girl,’” she said. “Many years later, I married a man who believed in me as well. My late husband was my best friend and my biggest fan. He used to say, ‘Don’t try to do everything all at once; just push the rock a little bit further along every day and you will get there.’”

Dr. Germain also credits the many teachers, colleagues and friends who have touched her life for contributing to her success “more than they can imagine.”

An Evolving Industry

As one of her many accomplishments, Dr. Germain has served as the clinical director of DC Dental for years, producing a bimonthly, free webinar series.

“I am a CE junky myself, and I credit my innate curiosity with the success of the program,” she said.  “My primary goal is to provide cutting edge, agenda free and timely ideas to our audience.”

The question-and-answer session at the end of every webinar gives her the opportunity to interact with the speaker and audience in a “dynamic, safe space without judgement,” which is so critical to moving the industry forward. That kind of sharing helps dentists evolve and “if we don’t evolve, we don’t survive.”

The industry has evolved quite a bit over the years, particularly when it comes to more women entering the field. About 10 years ago, Dr. Germain would often be the only women with a “seat at the table.” Now, there are many successful women clinicians who are key opinion leaders, looked to for their insight and expertise.

“The organization that honored me with the Brånemark Award is now about 30% women and each year the percentage increases,” Dr. Germain said. “They are all brilliant, talented, hardworking clinicians, educators and researchers. Not one of them has been handed an ‘easy button.’  They all have a very compelling story to tell, and I am awestruck by their genius, skill and humility.”

Providing Optimal Care

Dr. Germain recently began offering injectables in her practice, but the cosmetic benefits they provide was not her motivation. It was their therapeutic nature that earned them a spot on her list of services. Before, once she ruled out endodontics as a source of patient pain, she was at a loss. She didn’t know how to get those patients out of pain or even where to refer them. Now, she can provide relief chairside.

“I have helped so many people who report they have been in pain for years and the results have been life changing for them,” Dr. Germain said. “But, to do the therapeutics, you need to understand the cosmetic ramifications of these injections. Because my patients trust me, they never hesitate to let me do their cosmetic treatments as well.”

She encourages other dentists to incorporate therapeutics into their practices, and even teaches a course based on her book and clinical experience to help them get started. Interested? Just visit botoxbootcamp.com to learn more about the courses she offers and to enroll.

A New Challenge

Earlier this year, Dr. Germain released a dental textbook, “Cosmetic Injectables and Therapeutics—The Ultimate Guide for the Dental Office,” published by Edra Publishing. She was hesitant to take on this project at first, mostly because she wasn’t sure she could adequately describe her process.

“While there is science behind these procedures, it is also very much an art form that still has a lot of anecdotal evidence, differences of opinion, and trial and error,” she said. “But it was hard to resist the challenge.”

Dr. Germain teaches the same way she learns—in small steps. That’s the approach she takes in the textbook.

 “If you teach something the way you currently do it, you forget what you didn’t know when you started,” she said. “You really have to go back to how you learned it in the first place.”

It was also important to include what not to do, she said, and to provide plenty of illustrations, charts and diagrams for visual learners like herself. With that method, she was able to describe how she performed a certain procedure, then back it up with a chart that highlighted those small, but important, details that could easily get lost in translation.

“The book also includes the safety zones, danger zones, and what to do if the patient has an adverse treatment reaction,” Dr. Germain said. “Even so, I have to admit that, secretly, I am most proud of the fact I did the cover design and illustration.”

A Creative Outlet

Dr. Germain is, for the most part, a self-taught artist. She finds engrossing herself in an art project puts her completely at peace. It’s mediative and is how she “unwinds from the stress of practicing dentistry.”

For more than 10 years, for example, she’s used her artistic talents to develop unique shoes that “represent love, friendship and shared memories.” No matter the passion project, her art “tends to favor the abstract, has no plan in advance, and is messy and haphazard at times.”

Art keeps Dr. Germain balanced, which has been integral to her success.   

“Endodontics requires complete focus and accuracy to the millimeter, so it is the antithesis of what I create in my art studio,” she said. “The equilibrium this has created for me has been essential for my professional growth. It is this work/life balance that has been the key to my longevity in the profession.”