AO’s 30th Annual Meeting is set for spring ’15 in San Francisco

Among the meeting’s top new features are “Morning with the Masters,” a daybreak education session, featuring leading clinicians in the field; a symposium presented in English by seven prominent speakers from South Korea; and electronic posters where, for the first time, AO-member research will be presented on large flat-screen TV monitors instead of cardboard and paper. Follow AO on Facebook and Twitter to learn more. To view the meeting schedule, visit www.osseo.org/futureMeetings.html.

“We continue to explore and add innovative features to ensure this event is fresh, engaging and educational for researchers and clinicians in implant dentistry and tissue engineering,” said Joseph Gian-Grasso, DMD, president of the Academy of Osseointegration. “We’re confident that all of our attendees — no matter where they are in their career — will enjoy a truly memorable experience and take home knowledge that they can begin applying at their practices Monday morning.”

The event’s keynote speaker will be notable facial plastic surgeon Daniel Alam, MD, who was a member of the multi-disciplinary team of doctors and surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic who performed the first near-total face transplant in the United States. His address will focus on the power of the team in rebuilding health and well-being and will highlight the critical importance of different disciplines collaborating to support a patient’s medical, surgical and emotional needs to make them whole again.

To support that message, AO has assembled an international group of clinicians who will demonstrate how the team approach that Alam describes can be applied to implant dentistry with the finest in surgical and restorative care. Similarly, the Allied Staff Educational Sessions have been renamed the TEAM Program. Experts will also review what the academy has learned throughout its 30-year history and summarize current recommendations to address the challenging conditions in implant dentistry.

Concluding the conference on Saturday, attendees can participate in the interactive session, “Putting it All Together: Two Missing Adjacent Teeth in the Esthetic Zone: Options for Treatment,” where they can vote on keypads to share their opinion on various treatment options for presented cases. A panel of experts, led by Maurizio Tonetti, DMD, PhD; Paul Rosen, DMD, MS; Kenneth Hinds, DDS, and others, will also debate the options.

Throughout the conference there will be numerous opportunities to network and socialize, including at the President’s Reception, a time-honored event complimentary to all attendees. This year’s reception is sponsored by DENTSPLY Implants and will be held at The Exploratorium.

“When the annual event concludes, attendees will return home reinvigorated and excited about their profession as well as the power of collaboration,” said Donald Clem III, DDS, meeting chairperson. “Ultimately, patient safety and benefit must be based on sound evidence — that’s what the academy is all about and our annual meeting will be, too.”

(Source: Academy of Osseointegration)