2017 AAO Annual Session - Angle Lecture: Changing Treatment Goals to Confront Reality / Mershon Lecture: Treatment of the Broken or Distorted Face / Salzmann Lecture: A Call for Professionalism

Angle Lecture: Changing Treatment Goals to Confront Reality

With designation as an orthodontic specialist, we have inherited the need to know how to acquire, evaluate and disseminate scientific facts. From the beginning we have accepted this challenge, but the mechanisms by which we acquire, assess, and transfer knowledge have changed considerably over the past century. In this presentation, I will relate the use of evidence to the current practice of orthodontics and will suggest how we can evaluate the effectiveness of “faster treatment” promotions. Do you have access to the evidence needed to assure your next patient they are really benefiting from the latest technological finding? Or is it more mythical than scientific? While much of the information mentioned will be familiar to our recently trained orthodontists, those of us graduating more than 15 years ago have witnessed a real revolution in producing, accessing, and utilizing orthodontic literature.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize whether or not faster treatment techniques have achieved significance.
• Demonstrate how to search and evaluate follow-up studies to determine whether or not the high bar of clinical significance is reached.
• Determine if the latest technique to speed treatment become productive in their office.

Mershon Lecture: Treatment of the Broken or Distorted Face

This presentation will include a discussion of the orthodontic and surgical treatment planning for patients with clefts of the face, lip and palate. There will also be a discussion of the treatment of patients with craniofacial syndromes which may cause malocclusion, facial distortion and facial imbalance. Orthodontic preparation for different types of unique surgical and orthopedic procedures will be discussed. A series of case reports will also be presented which illustrate the manifestations of several of these syndromes and how they can be managed.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the orofacial manifestations of Crouzon, Apert and Treacher Collins syndromes as well as Sickle cell disease.
• Assess the potential benefits of pre-surgical orthopedic treatment before surgical closure of complete clefts of the lip and palate.
• Assess and determine the appropriate tooth movement necessary prior to orthognathic surgery for a variety of craniofacial syndromes.

Salzmann Lecture: A Call for Professionalism

This lecture will explore the increasingly difficult conundrum of the two premier players in our specialty: the practicing orthodontist and the orthodontic educator. The modern orthodontist is placed in the difficult position of providing optimal care while managing a profitable business entity. The orthodontic educator is faced with inspiring and teaching the latest generation of our specialty, despite decrease in faculty availability and departmental funding. The entire specialty finds that as the competition for patient availability increases, the respect for our legacy of integrity and trust—our professionalism--becomes challenged. This lecture will explore these dilemmas.

Learning Objectives:

• Define the “perfect storm” that tests our profession’s ethical heritage more than ever.
• Develop an appreciation for the dilemmas facing orthodontic educators.
• Reflect on several suggestions that are aimed toward resolution of these issues.