AAID 2017 in San Diego: Global force

Dental Tribune International

Fri. 13 October 2017

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SAN DIEGO, Calif., USA: More than 1,000 implant dentistry professionals from across the globe are here for the American Academy of Implant Dentistry 66th Annual Educational Conference. In fact, according to AAID representatives, a record number of international attendees are at this year’s meeting to learn from fellow practitioners and the industry’s most renowned experts.

Attendees are learning through didactic and hands-on sessions as well as through interaction with peers in the halls and at social events.

Wandering around at the Welcome Reception Wednesday at sunset on the Hilton Bayfront’s Promenade Plaza, it was easy to hear a wide variety of languages and accents engaged in lively discussions about implants, soccer, shopping, dining and everything else. Among the international attendees was Brij Sabherwal, MDS, of New Delhi, India, who hadn’t let his 25-hour journey to San Diego via Frankfurt and Denver stop him from attending several main podium sessions on Wednesday.

AAID Membership Manager Nicole Basso displays an item from the AAID-branded scrubs collection that’s for sale in the AAID booth.

The Dental Implant Technologies booth.

In the DoWell Dental Products booth, Terry Cha displays the Zirconia Sinus Drill Kit.

In the Glidewell Dental booth, Dr. Jack Hahn, seated, with Dr. Neil Park and Jennifer Archer.

Dr. Nelson Pinto of Concepcion, Chile, left, and AAID Fellow Dr. Robert Miller of Delray Beach, Fla.

In the KaVo booth, Barrett Crone displays the company’s latest imaging system, the Orthopantomorgraph OP 3D.

James Scyoc helps Dr. Chan Teng Ye of Malaysia in the Meisinger booth.

Wednesday evening’s Welcome Reception Celebration on the Promenade provides attendees with a colorful sunset and a relaxed atmosphere to meet and mingle.

Brandi Ratliff of X-Nav Technologies guides AAID Associate Fellow Dr. Ninette Branday of the United Arab Emirates in the use of the X-Guide by X-Nav Technologies.

Mike Foley, president the U.S. division of Zeramex, describes the metal-free, all-ceramic implant system to attendees.

Sabherwal, an AAID associate fellow attending his third AAID annual conference, said he was especially impressed with the presentations by Dr. Michael Pikos (“The Use of rhBMP-2 for Alveolar Ridge Augmentation”) and Dr. O. Hilt Tatum (“Predictable Restoration of Alveolar Bone”). “Both were very good,” Sabherwal said, acknowledging that his keen interest in bone augmentation work was a core reason for his coming to the meeting. He praised the efforts by AAID President Dr. Shankar Iyer to effectively promote AAID’s value in India and other Asian countries.

Dr. Frank Liebaug and Dr. Wu Ning, a husband-and-wife team in practice together in Stienbach Hallenberg, Germany, were at their first AAID annual conference. The couple also operates a training institute in conjunction with their practice, attracting dental professionals from across Europe and Asia. They’re especially interested in lasers, cone beam computed tomography, innovative bone regeneration techniques and new minimally invasive methods.

“I came here to get some new ideas, and I’ve been able to confirm that over the past 20 years I’ve been on the right track,” Liebaug said. “Without education, you can’t find success. And we especially need to transfer more knowledge from continent to continent.” He also said he was looking forward to seeing some of the latest high-tech devices and instruments in the exhibition hall.

More than 130 exhibitors are here in the Sapphire Ballroom on the 4th Level of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront conference center with hands-on opportunities for practitioners to examine some of the industry’s most advanced and innovative tools and techniques.

AAID Implants Meetings San Diego