ORTHO INDUSTRY NEWS Orthodontists Report 89% of Patient Volume Compared to Pre-Pandemic Times First Woman Becomes ADA Gold Medal Recipient for Dental Research Orthodontists are seeing 89% of the patient volume they had in 2019 and bringing in 87.8% of pre-pandemic collections, according to the latest survey of dental practices conducted by the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute. The numbers, which come from a breakdown by dental specialty of HPI’s monthly Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Practices survey for the week of September 13, are roughly comparable to general dentists and other special-ists. Oral maxillofacial surgeons come closest to their pre-pandemic numbers at 93.2% of volume and 93.5% of collections, while endodontists trail the rest of the field slightly at 88.1% and 87.2% respectively. However, when asked about the current state of their practice, only 51.5% of surveyed orthodontists reported that things were open and business as usual, more than 10% lower than general dentists at 62.5%. In fact, orthodontists trailed every other specialty by at least 8% with the OMS field reporting the next lowest percentage at 59.5%. On a positive note, no orthodontists reported being closed and unable to see patients. Endodontists reported the most closures at 3.2%. Read more at www.ada.org/en/science-research/health-policy-institute/ covid-19-dentists-economic-impact. Henry Shein Orthodontics Partners With Company to Make Resin Materials In 2020, the South Korean govern-ment recognized Graphy as an excel-lent material parts equipment company, as it has completed several worldwide patent registrations and medical device certifications for orthodontic materials and devices. “We are excited to work with Henry Schein Orthodontics as we share a mutual commitment to helping advance the application of 3D and 4D printing for enhanced clear aligner treatment,” said Sim Un Seob, chief executive officer of Graphy. “Together we have an opportunity to accelerate the adoption of digital dentistry with unrivaled technology in the orthodontic space.” Henry Schein Orthodontics has entered an agreement with Graphy to collaborate on future commer-cialization of resin materials for dental-related applications. The agreement brings the South Korean 3D printing company’s orthodontic appliance materials to the global market through Henry Schein’s marketplace. The American Dental Association (ADA) named Martha Somerman, DDS, PhD, as the 2021 recipient of the ADA Gold Medal Award for Excel-lence in Dental Research. Somerman was recognized as the author of semi-nal research on the development and regeneration of oral tissue affected by gum disease. She served as director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2011 to 2019. She also served as the principal investigator of the Laboratory of Oral Connective Tissue Biology at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and as senior clinical advisory staff at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. ADA President Daniel J. Klemmed-son, DDS, MD, applauded Somerman for her commitment to professionally developing and motivating those around her. “Your generous mentor-ship has produced a talented and diverse cadre of scientists who are transforming the workforce and future of dental science,” said Klemmedson. As a Gold Medal recipient, Somerman received $25,000 and a gold medallion at the SmileCon closing ceremony on October 13. She will also select a fellowship recipient who will receive funding of $20,000 to support his or her own research. “Being the recipient of this award makes me acutely aware of my wonderful career and how much I owe to so many people,” said Somerman. “It was almost 50 years ago that I graduated from dental school, class of 1975, a class of 200, with four women, 2% of the class. We’ve come a long way.” 6 Fall 2021 JAOS
Journal of the American Orthodontic Society Fall 2021: Page 6
