2022 AAO Annual Session - Web Access

Aligners are quickly growing as a treatment modality because of their ability to make offices more efficient. Fixed appliances are still 70% of the average orthodontic practice. Digital, custom braces allow us to leverage the same efficient workflow aligners provide with even better control with a much lower lab expense.

Join Dr. Idiculla for a journey to explore how you can look at your life in specific ways to help enhance today and tomorrow. Unlock what really drives you by being honest with yourself.

Learning Objectives:

• Look at your life in a deeper way.
• Refine and modify your goals moving forward.
• Discern whether choices that you make in life are driven by authenticity versus ego.

There is no doubt that the evolution and utilization of social media and electronic news media outlets have had a profound impact on the practice of orthodontics as consumers are being ‘educated’ through these sources. From direct-to-consumer/do-it-yourself orthodontics to magic potions to cure periodontal disease to new technologies for daily care, patients are bombarded with dental ‘health’ information that may in fact be harmful. This high-energy session will overview the ever-changing landscape and explore the top trending topics that impact clinical practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand and appreciate of the impact of social media on patients dental ‘IQ’.
• Develop strategies to educate patients about trending topics and associated research or lack thereof.
• Implement an action plan to monitor trending topics and be prepared to provide evidence-based responses to patients.

Are you feeling Security Fatigue yet? The latest hacks and security breaches are in the main stream news nearly constantly now. How is your practice supposed to defend itself when it seems the evils of the internet are winning the war? Do you just stick your head in the sand and use the logic that you haven’t been affected yet so you’re fine? Do you get overwhelmed not knowing what to do?

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the ways that social engineering is mining you for personal data they can use against you in a hack.
• Understand that Cyber Security is no single thing and is rather a collection of defenses and behaviors.
• Understand that the most important tool in your cyber defense is you and your behavior.

Join us as Trey Lawrence, AAO’s VP, General Counsel, discusses current advocacy efforts and priorities at the state and federal levels as well as the orthofacts.org resources available to members.

Over the last year, ransomware attacks have been decimating the dental community and shutting down practices of all sizes for 10+ days. Over 75% of the time, ransomware attacks result in the theft of patient data and costs often exceed $200,000. If the ransom is not paid, all your patient information and images are auctioned for sale on the Dark Web. Cloud backups, firewalls and anti-virus software are not the answer... yet 90% of practices across the US are relying on this technology to protect their practices. Your firewall and anti-virus software will not stop data theft and/or most ransomware strains.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain a better understanding of the technologies/methodologies and training that must be in place to protect your data and to keep your doors open.
• Understand the impact of a cyberattack against a dental/specialty practice.
• Outline the difference between IT companies and cybersecurity companies, evaluate the need for specialization and also learn the financial and emotional impact of a cyberattack against your practice.

Orthopedic maxillary expansion in adults opens a variety of nonsurgical/nonextraction treatment options in severe dentofacial skeletal discrepancies. Due to the morphological complexity of the facial sutures, however, an evidence-based expansion strategy is crucial. Based on the understanding on micrstructure of human facial sutures and biomechanics of MARPE, a reasonagle expansion protocol will be presented. Supplementary questions such as maximum possible age for orthopedic correction and resolution in the failure cases will be demonstrated.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply proper expansion protocol based on sound interpretation of the suture response.
• Find optimal expander design according to age and purpose.
• Better understand the strength of transverse correction in a variety of skeletal discrepancies.

Orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning for the correction of skeletal discrepancies usually comprise particular challenges. Growth modification, dental camouflage and surgical correction of such discrepancies are the customary options to improve function and esthetics; however, dental compensations frequently present limitations in providing a complete correction and acceptable esthetic result. Camouflaging a skeletal discrepancy can be achieved if properly diagnosed and by establishing a realistic treatment plan.
Periodontally assisted osteogenic procedures pretend to utilize bone biology, physiologic turnover activity as well as basic orthodontic biomechanical principles in an attempt to correct some skeletal discrepancies while achieving satisfactory skeletal changes. By understanding bone physiology and the biology of tissue response during orthodontic tooth movement, orthodontists should be able to develop the proper mechanotherapy and the therapeutic procedures necessary to achieve the expected tooth position and bone architecture.

Learning Objectives:

• Use the proper diagnosis and treatment planning to expand the alveolar housing, and know that it is also feasible to maintain those changes.
• Successfully treat some skeletal discrepancies with orthodontic treatment only, and obtain a stable result.
• Achieve the best settling and orthodontic results using periodontally assisted osteogenic procedures.

This lecture goes into detail and discusses case by case management of patients with complex cranio-facial and dentofacial problems. An evidence-based approach to the management of specific syndromes will be employed and participants will be given an overview of the state of the art techniques. In addition, it will incorporate many of the clinical patients that have been treated in a team based hospital setting.

Learning Objectives:

• Diagnose major craniofacial and dentofacial abnormalities.
• Coordinate care with plastic surgeons, oral and maxillo-facial surgeons and other healthcare providers.
• Manage and treat cleft lip and palate patients.

With 40 years of experience working and consulting in the field of orthodontics, Tina Byrne has gained success and recognition for her well-founded proficiencies in clinical, business, and administrative functions. Join us for this information-packed lecture and come away with new insights, knowledge, and strategies to help you be more efficient in insurance and beyond!

Growing a loyal Millennial patient base is integral to the future of any modern orthodontic practice. With the Millennial generation now being the largest consumer group with full purchasing power in the U.S., practices should understand the dollar potential in capitalizing on this valuable, untapped market. In this course, attendees will uncover powerful marketing strategies to connect with and convert today's modern Millennial patient in orthodontics and cosmetic dentistry, plus uncover the top drivers that influence their buying decisions to set your practice up for success in 2022 and beyond.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand what influences Millennial consumer buying decisions in this industry, including what they value and how they research orthodontic providers online.
• Develop your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and build an effective marketing and social media strategy to drive Millennial patient opportunities into the practice.
• Uncover the importance of staff training, tracking leads, KPI's (Key Performance Indicators), and developing talk tracks to increase prospect-to-patient conversion rates.

This lecture outlines the latest data and cyber security threats to the office based on trends and recent developments affecting the industry. The lecture will discuss different types of cyber threats such as Business Email Compromises and ransomware attacks and their disruptive effects on operations followed by regulatory and legal concerns. The lecture outlines basic incident response procedures and how to effectively react to a cyber or data incident. The lecture will also outline how these common threats can be avoided or mitigated.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the most common and prevalent current cyber and data security threats.
• Increase resilience against identified prevalent data and cyber security threats.
• Understand the basics of incident response procedures and the effects on operations overall.

With increasing skeletal maturity and resistance from anatomic structures, heavy interdigitation of the intermaxillary suture makes rapid palatal expansion (RPE) unfeasible when using conventional appliances. Therefore, mini-screw supported RME appliances were originally developed for patients whom conventional RME may not be indicated. The rationale is to provide a safer seperation for the intermaxillary suture without any significant side effects. However, intermaxillary suture separation may not readily occur in every patient that a mini-screw supported RME appliance is used. This lecture aims to present how mini-screw supported expansion may and may not work for your practice setting with case demonstrations.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the differences between conventional and mini-screw supported RME.
• Design and utilize mini-screw supported expansion appliances based on right indication.
• Analyze what outcomes could reasonably be expected after RME based on age, function and proper diagnosis.

Orthodontists have been trying to surgically accelerate tooth movements for over 100 years. Over the past 20 years, less and less invasive procedures have been introduced, and rates of tooth movement have decelerated. The only way to increase rates of tooth movement through intact bone is by decreasing the amount and density of bone through which the teeth have to be moved. The greater the reductions, the greater the rates of tooth movement. This can be accomplished by increasing the extent of the injury produced. A better approach – one that has the potential for the fastest movements – is to remove the bone impeding tooth movements, closing the space created surgically before healing occurs. This requires dentoalveolar or periodontal distraction osteogenesis – procedures that allow uni- and multi-radicular teeth to be moved up to 1 mm/day while remaining vital and healthy.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand why rates of tooth movements decrease when less invasive procedures are used.
• Recognize the importance of the amount and density of bone in determining rates of tooth movement.
• Be made aware of the potential of periodontal and dentoalvolar distraction osteogenesis for producing the fastest tooth movements possible.

HIP Creative specializes in helping orthodontic practices scale their new patient volume faster and easier through strategic marketing, innovative software, and hands-on training with your team. Harrison Bagdan, the Senior Practice Advisor at HIP, will be walking through how they have helped practices grow 300-500% in a single year, and also how you can fix the "leaky bucket" of new patients in your practice that could be costing you $1,000,000 per year, without needing to spend a single extra dollar on marketing efforts.