Meeting review: AGD2017 in Las Vegas

The same held true for the exhibit hall. The demonstrations of products and services on an AGD exhibit floor were designed to address how they will be used in the offices of general dentists.

And that was not all. Attendees could also find an array of networking events that gave them the chance to connect with other general dentists experiencing similar challenges and triumphs within their own practices.

This year, AGD2017 had a few changes up its sleeve. With governance meetings now being held separately, this year was the first in the AGD’s new scientific session format, which focused solely on exhibits, events and education.

It was also the year AGD unveiled its all-new lecture format. One-hour lectures gave AGD2017 attendees the opportunity to customize their education program by allowing them to select the specific aspects of a topic that matter most to them.

A perfect example was Dr. Stephen W. Carstensen’s comprehensive dental sleep medicine education track, broken up into two days of one-hour lectures. Courses in his series included:

• “Dental Sleep Medicine 2017 —What’s New?”
• “It’s Good to Breathe Well at Any Age, All the Time”
• “Talking about Sleepy Kids — How to Find them, What to Say”
• “Cardiovascular Consequences of Obstructed Airway Sleep”
• “Non-Cardiac Medical Problems Associated with Obstructed Airway Sleep”
• “Beyond Mandibular Advancement: Treating Airway Obstructed Sleep Differently”
• “120+ Oral Appliances for Sleepy Patients? How to Choose!”
• “Nothing’s Free — Side Effects of Treating Obstructed Airway Sleep”
• “Legal Issues Around Dental Therapy for a Medical Problem”
• “Sleep Tests are Snowflakes — How to Get the Info You Need”
• “It’s Not What You Do, It’s What You Think About —Medical Encounter Notes”

Carstensen explored the clinical aspects of dental sleep medicine while Glennine Varga, AAS, RDA, CTA, presented her own series of one-hour lectures discussing the dental team aspects of implementation and solving office system challenges. Carstensen’s dental sleep medicine track also included the hands-on “Sleep Diagnosis and Treatment Workshop.”

Another focus of AGD2017 was the materials — both tangible and intangible — that dentists need to succeed in their profession. In keeping with this theme, the 2017 keynote address was given by materials scientist and engineer, broadcaster and author of “Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World,” Mark Miodownik.

As the professor of materials and society at the University College London (UCL), Miodownik teaches and runs a research group focused on self-assembling materials, self-healing materials, psychophysical properties of materials, animate materials, innovative manufacturing and sensoaesthetic materials.

For more than a decade Miodownik has promoted research that links the arts and humanities to medicine, engineering and materials science. His efforts resulted in the UCL Institute of Making where he runs the research program.

Besides all the educational programs, there was also a lot going on in the exhibit hall. Every day there was time set aside for attendees wishing to visit without missing one of their favorite courses.