[nebula8804]

The following is anecdotal but I have to mirror your observation.

I've seen both sides of the coin where a son followed in his father's footsteps. The Father was an old stodgy pain in the ass with ancient practices.

The son opened his own practice with modern offices, a lot of software based systems both for office work and patient care.

The son was decent and the technology helped but the best dentist ive had was another super old dentist who ended up adopting some of the tech while also being an absolute magician in his work due to his experience. His ability to ascertain edge cases from things such a cavity xray really made him a top tier dentist. Thats something tech cannot always make up for. Its raw intuition from years of experience. It was a heartbreaking event when he decided to retire. :/

There is a good argument to be had for younger dentist adopting new technology and learning the latest skills but it isn't always a perfect fit.

The best dentist seems like the old person open to new ideas(in my experience).