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Gaurav was born in India and raised in multiple cities, as both his parents served in the defence forces.

“My primary dental degree was also from India, where I worked for a few years and further qualified and completed my initial endodontic postgraduate degree,” Gaurav recalls. “The Indian medical/health education system is exceptionally competitive, and one had to sit one of the toughest exams to be selected in a dental school.

“The majority of my late teens and my 20s was spent studying and expanding my skills as a professional. I had a keen interest in teaching, hence was associated with a few different universities in North India.”

Gaurav says the experience of living and working in different countries and cities has been invaluable, with his extensive CV including heading an endodontic program in Muscat, Oman, and being awarded a diplomate in specialist field of endodontics with the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh.

He moved to Sydney in 2012 to be closer to his dentist sibling, and then after some years working in Tasmania, he moved to Perth.

Gaurav says he found endodontics to be the most challenging in dental school, which is why he chose to specialise in the subject. “I always considered myself someone with good hand skills and found endodontics fascinating,” he says. “It isn’t routine, predictable work due to complexity of the treatment. Every tooth has its own unique anatomy from inside. Besides the technical aspect, it’s very rewarding getting your patients out of pain and seeing the progress of healing of infections whilst patients retain their own teeth.”

Gaurav always wanted his own endodontic practice. “I had a clear vision of what I wanted and the way I wanted to practice,” he recalls. “I established my practice, The Endodontic Practice Perth, in early 2021. I continue to teach remotely and present both internationally and locally as teaching is my passion. I love to be able to contribute and share the knowledge for the betterment of the profession and community.”

For Gaurav, referral endodontic practice is challenging, which is what drives him to push himself. “I love interacting with my patients and how I feel when I can enhance their quality of life a tiny bit by retaining their natural teeth, free of infection and pain,” he says. “It’s greatly rewarding.”

Gaurav will be presenting ‘Practising Safe and Efficient Endodontics’ in April, a CPD course that is suitable for dentists with all levels of experience. “Although endodontics is theoretically practised the same way as 20 or even 40 years ago, just like any other branch of dentistry, keeping up is important,” he says.

“The idea is not to change the concepts and baseline treatment protocols that work and have always worked, but to add new layers and see what is available, including new techniques and materials/instruments that will help us do our job more efficiently.

“We will have microscopes for attendees, which enable them to visualise the internal anatomy better. We’ll introduce them to newer materials and instruments for root canal preparation, including lots of tips and tricks along the way. The idea is to practise endodontics more confidently, predictably and with minimal iatrogenic mishaps.”

When asked why it’s important for dentists to have a good understanding of safe endodontics, Gaurav explains endodontics has one of the highest rates of iatrogenic errors. “They can be from small procedural errors to more serious, life-threating mishaps,” he says. “As we are trying to save a tooth and our treatment is expected to work for the long-term, it’s important the procedural errors are minimised. Even a small error such as ledge or over enlargement of access preps to find canals can reduce the long-term prognosis for the tooth.

“We may not see our own endodontic failures, but they occur. Most endodontists see retreatment cases routinely, which can be almost 25 to even 30% of their referrals.

“In my opinion, the success rates are far higher when root canals are planned and performed start-to-finish by a single clinician as primary treatment,” he adds. “Correcting iatrogenic errors helps increase the lifespan of the tooth but not sufficiently as compared to a good solid primary endodontic treatment with no errors and a good timely post-op restoration as indicated.”

Now set up in his own endodontic practice, Gaurav feels he is at the beginning of a productive and rewarding career.

“I’m glad I’m on that path now, but this is just the start for me,” he reveals. “I have a keen interest and passion in teaching, and I want to be able to continue to do that in one way or another, whenever I get an opportunity to do so. This course is a product of the same and I have a few more topics on my mind that I would love to teach in time.”

5 Minutes with Dr Gaurav Vasudeva

Which three words best describe you?

Perceptive, purposeful and passionate.

If you weren’t a dentist, what would you be doing for a living?
I would be serving in one of the defence forces/military or be a teacher of some kind, following my parents’ professions.

What is your favourite book or band/musician?
I consider myself an encyclopedia of rock bands from mid-70s to early 90s. My favourite bands are too many, but to name one, it would be Def Leppard.

I like to mostly read self-improvement books and one book comes to mind that had an impact on me is The Saint, Surfer and the CEO by Robin Sharma.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Music drives me and has the power to not only uplift my spirits but has influenced my focus at different stages of life. I spend most of my free time with my almost six-year-old son. I like to re-live my childhood with him. We do some play-based activities together, which is a lot of fun and a great stress buster for me. Besides that, I love nature and often try and explore tracks and trails for short hikes or even a drive when I can. I hope to learn the art of camping soon.

Is there anything people might be surprised to learn about you?
At one point I was a registered dentist in four countries with specialist registration in three of them. I have recently started to retire my dentist license from some non-Australian countries.

I have recently picked up my guitar after 20 years of not playing. Languages fascinate me and this year I am learning French. I hope to be fluent in it someday.