Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Fall 2020 - 11

Trustee Report

PCSO News and Events

A Life (A Practice . . . An Association . . .)
Interrupted: Part 2

Dr. Norman Nagel
AAO Trustee

We are now more than six months into our " new
normal " following the reopening of our practices and the " new look " in how we interact as an
association. We survived the House of Delegates
and our AAO Annual Session and are now planning more virtual meetings for the fall. The PCSO,
MSO, RMSO, and SWSO joint virtual continuing
education meeting was held on October 2 and 3.
The other constituents are also holding virtual meetings. Currently, the Winter Meeting is
scheduled in Palm Desert on February 12-14, using
a face-to-face format as well as a virtual format.
This will inaugurate what appears to be hybrid
meetings going forward. Personally, I think this is
a bold move forward, as our association appeals
to all demographics of the AAO membership. I do
not think we will go back to the way we used to
conduct our meetings. Virtual will be part of the
" new normal. "

board will be looking at modifying or changing
the strategic plan by 2022, along with a futuristic study that was approved by the 2019 House
of Delegates. The World Sleep Society, headquartered in Minnesota, has offered to provide
interdisciplinary programs to the AAO membership, and the Board will " allow CCon [the AAO
Committee on Conferences and Meetings] to
explore possibilities including the concept of an
education program or future Winter Conference. "
Dr. Dale Anne Featheringham will be the Trustee
Liaison to CCon.

The Board of Trustees (BOT) met in person (yes,
face-to-face, but some board members joined
virtually) in August in St. Louis. This was our first
face-to-face meeting since February. All other
meetings have been totally virtual. Frankly, it felt
good to " get out " and begin to discuss issues both
formally and informally. We also welcomed two
at-large trustees to the board: Dr. K. Alexandra
(Alex) Thomas and Dr. Dale Anne Featheringham. Alex is a recent graduate of the University
of Michigan (2019) and brings the perspective
of a new and younger member; she is from the
Southern Association of Orthodontists. Dale Anne
practices in Ohio and has been active in the AAO,
having served most recently as the delegation
chair for the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists. We must emphasize, however, that they do
not represent their respective constituents. They
have been appointed to the board by the BOT,
and they do not report back to their constituents.
Alex will serve a 2-year term and Dale Anne a
3-year term.

With more of our new and younger members
(and other older members) active in dental
support organizations or orthodontic service
organizations (OSOs), the BOT " directed staff
to explore ways to collaborate with Orthodontic Support Organizations (OSOs) in a manner
consistent with the AAO's core values and to the
benefit of AAO members. " Recall that the AAO's
core values include (1) our members come first,
(2) we are inclusive, (3) we are data driven, (4) we
seek engagement, and (5) we are ethical.

The BOT discussed a variety of issues, following
an abbreviated board planning session scheduled
at the same location and time. Strategically, the

Fall 2020 PCSO Bulletin

The American Association of Orthodontists
Foundation (AAOF) will assume management of
the Donated Orthodontic Services (DOS) program
and the AAO Disaster Relief Fund. This will allow
the AAOF Board to look at changing their original
mandate to include these two services.

On July 25, 2020, an article appeared in The
Atlantic titled " Americans Are Spending Billions
on Unnecessary Dental Treatments. " The author
is Isobel Whitcomb Undark. Orthodontics is
featured in this article, but not necessarily in a
positive way. That being said, there is a paragraph
that I would like to highlight. Dr. Peter Greco, an
associate editor of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and author of
many articles in that journal, is quoted as saying,
" Dental health is definitely enhanced by orthodontic therapy, and I stand firm on that, " and the
article added that he has seen the positive effects
of orthodontic treatment in his own practice. As

Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Fall 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Fall 2020