news summer 2014

Inaugural Online Newsletter

President's Report
News from Temple Orthodontics
Albert Einstein Medical Center: Orthodontic Residency Program
University of Pennsylvania Update

 

President’s Report

Warmest greetings to my esteemed colleagues and members of the GPSO family! The Greater Philadelphia Society of Orthodontists wishes you and those dear to you a wonderful summer this 2014!
First and foremost, I need to thank the GPSO body for entrusting me with the task of serving you for the 2014 year. I will endeavor to meet GPSO’s tradition of excellence that we have come to expect from our Presidents. I am grateful to my predecessor, Dr. Steven Cohen, for the excellent example he has set for me in leading our GPSO Executive Board in 2013. I am sure we can all agree that our last Annual Meeting on the topic of Increased Utilization of Technology in the Typical Orthodontic Office made for both a helpful and interesting day.
I am indebted to my hard working partners on the GPSO Board. Without their efforts throughout the year, our outstanding Annual Meetings simply could not happen! Specific thanks go to Dr. Mark Mele, our Treasurer and Secretary. He and his wonderful staff are, simply put, the backbone of our honored society. Thank you, Dr. Mele, for your tireless effort and the way you and your staff quietly serve us. GPSO is truly blessed to have you.

It is with great pleasure that I inform you of our upcoming meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, November 19th, 2014. Our topic for this year’s meeting is entitled Legal Concerns Affecting Today’s Orthodontic Practice. I can think of no one more qualified to speak on this matter than Ms. Elizabeth Franklin of the AAOIC. Many of us will undoubtedly be familiar with Ms. Franklin for her popular seminar given each year at the AAO Annual Session on Risk Management. She has spent over 30 years of her career as a Claims Specialist, with a significant part of that career specializing in Dental Malpractice. Ms. Franklin will be accompanied by her panel of experts: Dr. Mervin Graham, orthodontist and current AAOIC President and Ms. Jura Zibas, renowned technology and intellectual property attorney. AAOIC has generously offered to give all AAOIC insured doctors who attend this meeting a premium discount on malpractice insurance!
Some of the topics that will be tackled during the day will include, but not be limited to: General Risk Management in Orthodontic Practice, Legal Liabilities in Marketing in the Modern Electronic Age, Employment Practices Liability, and the timely subject of Cyber Liability. I highly encourage you to bring your legal/malpractice questions and perhaps your office manager with you to this year’s Annual Meeting. It is my hope that you will find this meeting helpful to you and to the health of your practice.

Lastly, if you are reading this report, you will have undoubtedly noticed a change in this year’s GPSO Newsletter format! I am proud to announce that you are currently reading the inaugural copy of GPSO’s Annual Online Newsletter! As part of GPSO’s initiative to reduce waste, we will no longer be distributing newsletters on print, nor will we be asking you to submit your Annual Meeting registrations via postal mail. Registration can now be completed on our website with payment submitted conveniently on PayPal. If you are accustomed to conventional mail, do not fret! GPSO will still be sending out postcard reminders to you when our newsletters are up for viewing and reminders in early fall when it is time to register online for the Annual Meeting! The option of printing out and mailing in your payment and registration will also be available for those of you more comfortable with that format.

I eagerly anticipate seeing all of you, my friends and colleagues, at our meeting this November!
Until then, may you have a blessed summer!

Gratefully Serving You,
Vanessa Y. Wang, DMD, MS
2014 President of the Greater Philadelphia Society of Orthodontists


From Temple University Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics

Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry Department of Orthodontics continues to enjoy the excitement and innovations that the 21st century brings to us. Our first year residents are beginning to open their eyes while the second years have their eyes on the end of their educational journey and begin to enter the world of orthodontics. The class of 2014 will graduate in late August. They will all have successfully earned their Orthodontic certificate and their Masters in Oral Biology. They are as follows; Dr. Karen Kandel Conn, Dr. Mark Padilla, Dr. Kerri Odhner, Dr. Bryon Foley, Dr. Weston Carpiaux and Dr. David Franks.
During this past year of we have had several recent graduates from the classes of 2012 and 2013 sit for the ABO's clinical ICE exam. The program is striving to eventually have 100% participation in the ICE exam.

The reunion reception was a terrific success at the AAO meeting in New Orleans. It was great to see all of the old faces and to meet new ones. The strength of our program relies on the strength of our dedicated alumni. We are also in the beginning stages of organizing the first S. Eugene Coben Orthodontic Symposium to be held in March of 2015. This is anticipated to be a great educational 2 day event open to the orthodontic community.

Faculty news: Dr. James Sciote, the Director of Research for the Department, is completing work on his R-21NIHNIDCR grant: “Musculoskeletal Heritable Influences on Malocclusion”. He has been successfully been collaborating with several other universities to include, Maxillofacial surgeons at the University of Lille France, Physiologists and Orthodontics at Kings College London, Human Genetics group at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania . His work has culminated in several publications in peer reviewed journals and several abstract presentations at the 2014 AADR meeting
We would also like to welcome 3 new adjunct faculty members to the program. They are Dr. Terri Levitt, Dr. Zane Haider, and Dr. Adina Jarosh-Wolfe. The residents are excited to begin to learn from them.

Resident News: The incoming class will be traveling to Philadelphia to begin their program on July 7, 2014. The class is comprised of Dr. Zhana Konovalenko, Dr. Destinee Zablocki, Dr. Patricia Campillo, Dr. Damien Mariano, Dr. Erin Bauerle and Dr. Lenny Epshteyn. They are a very diverse group with various backgrounds and experiences.

The Department would like to express our appreciation to our loyal and deserving Alumni. Their support is invaluable. We look forward to a continued partnership. We would also like to recognize an outstanding group of adjunct faculty. Many travel long distances to participate in the education of our residents. Their dedication to the program is second to none.
Happy Spring to all.

Jeffrey H. Godel, DDS
Associate Professor and Interim Chair, Graduate Program Director
Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry Department of Orthodontics


Albert Einstein Medical Center (AEMC) Orthodontic Residency Program

Resident Activities
The graduating third year residents, Drs. Shira Lazebnik Tor, Alex Oldroyd and Ben Roth presented their research project outcomes to the faculty and fellow residents in the spring.
We are very pleased that they also presented their research findings at the 2014 AAO Annual Meeting in New Orleans:

Dr Shira Lazebnik Tor:
An in vivo study to evaluate the masking of dental white spot lesions following orthodontic treatment with Icon® material.
(Mentored by Dr. Martin Weinstein.)

Dr. Alex Oldroyd:
Shear bond strength comparison of three light curing units. (Mentored by Drs. Martin Weinstein and Alan Borislow.)

Dr Ben Roth:
An intracenter comparison of nasolabial appearance outcomes in patients with clefts. (Mentored by Dr. Ross Long. Jr.)

In addition, the third year residents each displayed one completed case as part of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontics (CDABO) Orthodontic Case Display Program at the AAO Annual Meeting. We also congratulate them as they complete their three-year educational experience and wish them success as they enter private practice. Dr. Tor will be returning to her hometown area of Cleveland, Ohio associating in practice with her former orthodontist. Dr. Oldroyd will also returning to the St. Louis, Mo area associating in private practice. And, Dr. Roth will be associating in practice in the metropolitan Boston area.

The first year residents, Drs. Erin Mahoney, Kathleen Pale and Justin Silvestre attended the Tweed Foundation Course in Tucson, Arizona from April 6 through April 16, 2014. This experience has been very beneficial to our residents based upon their feedback to program leadership. As many know, The Tweed Study Course is an intensive eleven-day experience in advanced edgewise mechanics, differential diagnosis and the Tweed/Merrifield force system. Each participant of the course is given individual instruction in all of these skills and disciplines on a daily basis. All residents who successfully complete the Tweed Study Course report that it is a wonderful adjunct to their orthodontic knowledge and skill and that they leave Tucson with a greater understanding of diagnosis, treatment planning, orthodontic force systems, and a tremendous boost in confidence because of their greatly enhanced ability to manipulate archwires.

Faculty News
We welcome Dr. Matthew Etter to our faculty. He is a graduate of the Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry. He then completed a one-year general practice residency at Abington Memorial Hospital. His orthodontic graduate training occurred in the three year orthodontic residency program at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Alan J. Borislow, DDS
Program Director and Chairman
Orthodontic Residency Program, Albert Einstein Medical Center


University of Pennsylvania Update

Our comprehensive clinic and didactic Orientation Program will begin on July 7, 2014 as we welcome our incoming Class of 2016: Dr. Rola Alkhatib, Dr. Christine Martin, Dr. Ken Matsumoto (2nd year Perio-Ortho combined program), Dr. Mehreen Merchant, Dr. Bonolo Odirile, Dr. Bhavendrasinh Sayania (3 yr. MSOB program), Dr. Hellen Teixeira (5 yr. DScD program) and Dr. Katherine Zhang.

I am happy to report that our search for a full-time Assistant Professor in our department is complete and we will be welcoming Jeanne Nervina, DMD, PhD to our faculty on July 1, 2014. Dr. Nervina has had 12 years of experience as an Orthodontist and a faculty.

In this semester, the first year residents completed the Tweed Course on April 6-16, 2014. Also in April, our second year residents participated in the written ABO exam with a 100% success rate.

On June 19, 2014 Dr. Emanuel Abayev, Dr. Michael Berger, Dr. Laura Bodner, Dr. H. Ben Drane, Dr. Helen Jeon and Dr. Patricia Hong are expected to receive their Orthodontic certificate during the graduation ceremony to be held at The Union League of Philadelphia. Also, Dr. Avi Goel is expected to graduate from the combined program in Orthodontics and Periodontics. We wish them all the best.

This summer, the new first-year and upcoming second-year residents will attend the Twenty-Sixth Annual Graduate Orthodontic Residents Program (GORP) on July 31 - August 3, 2014 which will be held on the campus of the University of Michigan.

The annual Orthodontic Alumni Day format will be slightly different from our traditional reunion. On October 10th, the Department will be offering a Symposium on Accelerated Osteogenic Orthodontics (AOO) with Drs. William and Thomas Wilcko. This symposium will be open to all orthodontists and allied dental specialists. If you would like more information regarding this symposium, please feel free to peruse the information on our UPSDM Continuing Education site for more details as well as registration information.

One of the department’s ongoing endeavors is the J. Henry O’Hern Jr. Resident Education and Travel Fund. This fund will accumulate contributions from alumni and friends to offset expenses incurred by our residents as they attend off-campus courses to enrich their academic experience. We feel this effort is consistent with Dr. O’Hern’s dedication to the department and to teaching. Anyone wishing to support this fund may contact Mrs. Barbara Del Regino at 215-898-5910.

As always, we would be privileged to have you visit with us at UPENN!
Respectfully submitted by,

Chun-Hsi Chung, DMD, MS
Chauncey M. F. Egel Endowed Chair
Associate Professor and Postdoctoral Program Director
Department of Orthodontics, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine


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