This article outlines the development of an international dental career and provides insights into dental education, clinical practice, and the regulatory environment in Australia, based on the author’s experiences at the University of Sydney. In Australia, a multicultural nation, dental education requires a sophisticated approach to accommodate diverse student backgrounds, including varied previous careers and nationalities. Through the processes of obtaining an Australian dental license and registering as a specialist in prosthodontics, the author recognized the country’s rigorous regulatory framework and the high international standing of the Japan Prosthodontic Society’s training programs. Working abroad provides a unique opportunity to re-evaluate the strengths of the Japanese dental system. This paper emphasizes that there is no single right time or path for an international career. It aims to encourage young dental professionals to broaden their horizons and trust their own timing to “Find your own way” in an increasingly diverse global professional landscape.

This paper examines the meaning and implications of pursuing an academic career overseas through the author’s experience at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Using NUS as a case study, it outlines key features of its academic career scheme and tenure track system, and discusses challenges encountered under a competitive evaluation framework, along with the institutional support provided to address them. The paper further explores how academic communication was redesigned in a non-native language environment and how working within an international evaluation context contributed to the development of new professional perspectives. While an overseas academic career is not an easy choice, this paper argues that it can offer valuable opportunities to reassess academic expertise and career development in a more self-directed manner.

Background: In home care for a super-aging society, supporting the ability to eat is vital not only for survival but also for quality of life (QOL). Dysphagia can lead to aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition-related pressure ulcers, increasing systemic complications, yet purely medical interventions have limitations. Case: From a general practitioner’s perspective, we describe a home care case where a multidisciplinary approach helped an elderly patient regain oral intake and the “joy of chewing,” highlighting the importance of medical-dental collaboration. After prosthodontic treatment with new dentures, the patient’s nutritional status improved and complications were reduced. We report the clinical course and discuss the roles of each profession, as well as challenges in information sharing. Conclusion: A comprehensive team approach including dental professionals can improve nutrition and prevent complications in dysphagic, malnourished patients. We consider the significance of medical-dental collaboration centered on eating and discuss strategies to enhance such collaboration in home care.

When providing dental care such as denture making to outpatients, it resolved patients’ chief complaints and improved their quality of life. However, when we targeted dental care toward elderly patients requiring nursing care, we faced a significant barrier. The dental care outcome patients expected was ‘being able to chew,’ but in many cases, we could not achieve the results patients desired. This was because many elderly patients requiring nursing care presented with motor masticatory disorders. Therefore, by focusing on patients’ life functioning, we began developing dental care aimed at enabling them to enjoy delicious, sufficient meals. The outcome of dental care that emerged was ‘nutrition’. Consequently, the authors set out to explore intervention methods with nutrition as the outcome.

Prosthetic restorations for missing maxillary anterior teeth require comprehensive harmony, including periodontal tissue stability, and high aesthetics. Fixed implant treatment requires large-scale tissue grafting, due to alveolar ridge resorption, increasing prosthetic difficulty and patient burden. Conventional removable partial dentures have limitations in color reproduction due to using ready-made artificial teeth and poor aesthetics due to using metal clasps.

In this case, using a sectional denture with swing wedge attachments allows the wedge to penetrate the undercut of the abutment teeth on the missing side, providing retention, ensuring self-cleaning of the abutment teeth, and reducing lateral force. In addition to these functions and cleanability, we propose a new partial denture design that also combines aesthetics through the reproducibility of shape and color by dental technicians.

Patient: A 39-year-old male presented with masticatory dysfunction caused by occlusal pain in the maxillary right central incisor. The tooth was diagnosed as non-restorable and was subsequently extracted. Prosthetic rehabilitation was performed with zirconia-based restorations: an implant-supported crown for the maxillary right central incisor and conventional crowns for the maxillary left central and lateral incisors.

Discussion: The use of a dental CAD/CAM workflow enabled precise fabrication of zirconia restorations, allowing the information from the provisional restoration to be accurately transferred to the definitive prosthesis. This approach ensured excellent fit and esthetics, contributing to stable postoperative function and favorable long-term prognosis.

Conclusion: Zirconia restorations, owing to their superior mechanical strength and esthetic qualities, proved to be a reliable option for both implant-supported and tooth-supported crowns, providing long-term stability and predictable prosthetic outcomes.

Patient: A 51-year-old woman presented with complaints of masticatory dysfunction and pain in the right temporomandibular joint. The patient had full-mouth attrition with suspected involvement of bruxism, and inappropriate occlusal contacts with the restorations on the right molar. Therefore, occlusal contacts were restored using provisional restorations, and in combination with a splint, both improvement of temporomandibular disorder and stabilization of occlusion were confirmed. Subsequently, the definitive prostheses were delivered.

Discussion: The use of provisional restorations to restore occlusal contacts and a splint to stabilize the occlusion contributed to the successful recovery of masticatory function.

Conclusion: In this case, determination of the occlusal morphology with provisional restorations and its transfer to the definitive prostheses resulted in a favorable clinical outcome.

Patient: A 52-year-old woman presented with masticatory difficulty and esthetic concerns due to a coronal fracture of the maxillary left first premolar. The remaining tooth structure on both mesial and distal aspects was subgingival but exhibited vitality. Orthodontic extrusion and a crown lengthening procedure were performed to obtain a ferrule, followed by crown restoration with the pulp preserved.

Discussion: Electric pulp tests were performed until final restoration to assess pulp preservation. The occlusal scheme during lateral excursion was modified to a group function including the canine. These treatments are considered to have reduced the risk of further fracture.

Conclusion: By preserving pulp vitality, performing appropriate preprosthetic procedures, and adjusting the lateral occlusal scheme, a favorable clinical outcome was achieved in restoring a coronal-fractured tooth.

Patient: The patient was an 84-year-old woman with edentulous maxilla, and the mandible presented with partially edentulous arches, with 321| and |123 remaining teeth. Her chief complaint was ill-fitting of dentures, and she desired fabrication of new ones. The remaining mandibular teeth thrusted the maxillary alveolar ridge, and ridge resorption and flabby gums were observed in the maxillary anterior alveolar ridge, which presented combination syndrome. After adjusting the existing dentures, new dentures were made.

Discussion: The treatment plan was formulated in consideration of the characteristics of the combination syndrome. The inclination of the occlusal plane and the occlusal scheme were designed so as not to cause progression of the ridge resorption at the upper anterior region and the lower posterior region.

Conclusions: Long-term proper retention and stability of the dentures were obtained by making dentures with an understanding of the characteristics of combination syndrome.