Technology at Forefront at AMED-Penn Dental Microscopy Meeting
Dr. Frank Setzer (right) of Penn Dental Medicine served as Scientific Session Chair for the meeting with AMED President Dr. William Linger (left).
Philadelphia — The state-of-the-art in dental microscopy took center stage at Penn Dental Medicine, September 28-30, as the School partnered with the Academy of Microscope Enhanced Dentistry (AMED) to present the AMED-Penn Dental Microscopy Meeting 2018, “Details Matter.” The three-day program was also the 17th Annual Meeting & Scientific Session of AMED, drawing nearly 150 attendees from across the country and around the world.
“Both Penn Dental and AMED have been at the forefront of teaching dental microscopy so this was a natural partnership,” says Dr. Frank Setzer, Director of Predoctoral Endodontics and Endodontic Clinic Director at Penn Dental Medicine, who served as Scientific Session Chair for the meeting with AMED President Dr. William Linger. “As the field of Endodontics was transformed by the operating microscope, Penn Dental Medicine established itself as a leader in integrating the microscope into endodontic education and practice. And while Endodontics was the first area to institutionalize the use of dental microscopy, the tremendous illumination and magnification are enhancing precision and care across dental disciplines.”
The program topics and speakers highlighted the diverse applications of dental microscopy. Presentations ranged from precision restorative dentistry with the dental microscope and the use of the microscope in pediatric dentistry to its application in periodontal therapy, in Endodontics, and in the removal of third molars.
In addition, an Educators Forum was held that highlighted the efforts of Penn Dental Medicine and AMED to establish the dental microscope in postgraduate and predoctoral teaching. During the Forum, Dr. Syngcuk Kim, Louis I. Grossman Professor in Penn Dental Medicine’s Department of Endodontics, joined the discussion via Skype on his way to Seoul, South Korea, to attend the International Federation of Endodontic Associations World Congress. Dr. Kim, who led the School’s Department of Endodontics as Chair for many years, spoke on the history of dental microscopy at Penn Dental Medicine and School’s preeminence in the field, and shared his perspective on the technology’s importance for excellence in patient care. At Penn Dental Medicine, the Syngcuk Kim Endodontic Clinic is outfitted with state-of-the-art microscopes in each of the clinic’s 23 operatories and dental microscopy has long been part of instruction and patient care for postgraduate endodontic students. And with an initiative launched last academic year led by Dr. Alan Atlas, Clinical Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics at Penn Dental Medicine, all DMDstudents are now also gaining exposure to the use of these microscopes in restorative dentistry.
Along with the wide-ranging lectures, the program included two live demonstrations. On Friday, a restorative case by Dr. Atlas compared a preparation done with loupes to one done with a microscope and included intraoral digital scans and the microscope preparation in real-time. And on Saturday, Dr. Sam Kratchman, Clinical Associate Professor of Endodontics at Penn Dental Medicine, conducted live endodontic microsurgery. Both procedures were performed in the Zeiss Microsurgical Suite within School’s Endodontic Clinic with a live stream to the School’s William Cheung Auditorium. The video stream also allowed for two-way audio with commentary from the clinicians performing the procedures and moderated questions from the viewing audience.
“Seeing dental microscopy in use live like this is a tremendous tool for understanding the clinical impact of this technology,” says Dr. Setzer. “We are pleased to have this capability and educational resource to share, and the tremendous support from our IT team made this program’s live streams seamless.” Both surgical suites within the School’s Endodontic Clinic are outfitted with microscopes specially equipped for streaming live surgical cases to lecture areas within the School as well as to external sites.
The final day of the meeting was devoted to hands-on sessions covering restorative microscope utilization techniques, the management of calcified canals, and micro-suturing. Komet USA LLC provided support for this portion of the program.
Attendees could also explore an exhibit area that featured products and technologies from the meeting’s gold sponsors Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. and Karl Kaps and 12 other exhibitors.
“We were pleased to bring together clinicians and researchers across disciplines,” adds Dr. Setzer. “There was a great exchange of best practices.”
AMED’s 2019 annual meeting will be held in Hollywood, Calif., September 27-29.
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