Dr. Kennell attends many orthodontic conferences throughout the year to expand his knowledge on what's new in orthodontics. He very kindly brought along the rest of his team members to join him this time! They arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 2nd, attended the conferences for 3 days, and then headed back home to New Hampshire on May 7th! Then, they were right back to work the next day seeing all of the patients who had missed them while they were gone. Except now the team was ready with their new found knowledge!
The first day of the AAO conference, the opening ceremony included a jazz band to get everyone hyped of for the next few days of learning! There were classes for orthodontists, clinical assistants, and the administrative assistants as well! Classes were from 8 AM to 5 PM all 3 days and there were SO many classes being offered!
The assistants learned a new way of bonding Invisalign attachments to the teeth that will hopefully help in preventing them from falling off. The process will now include using an etch material and the use of a dryer to make sure the teeth are as dry as possible. The presenter, Dr. Doug Depew, stressed how critical and important it is to only get the etch material on the exact spot where the attachment is going. This will help during the Invisalign starting appointments when it comes time to remove extra material and will give the attachment a better seal to the tooth surface. They are excited to try out this technique and hope this will in turn benefit both the patient and the assistants in the long run.
The assistants also got to see some successful cases of Phase I Invisalign treatment. Dr. Kennell has done quite a few Phase I treatments so far, but it validated how well it is working for orthodontists everywhere. The information learned about having attachments stay better will apply to the deciduous teeth in Phase I treatment as well!
The whole team sat in on an OSHA presentation that mostly reviewed all of the safety rules and regulations that we follow each and everyday. Some were a reminder for us, especially how important it is for everyone to wear safety glasses and other protective gear. The presenter, Jackie Dorst also brought up a wonderful idea to set up practice scenarios in the office to be prepared in case any emergency situations were to occur! Something you don't always think about, but that is super important for your whole team to know.
There were many classes to help dealing with burnout, physically and mentally, which applied to everyone. They had classes discussing how to reduce stress and anxiety and how to have personal growth and success. These lessons are essential when it comes to how we treat our patients and each other!
To sum everything up, Dr. Kennell is an amazing orthodontist of the Lakes Region, who prioritizes his patients having the best success with treatment and the whole experience being at Kennell Orthodontics. He will go above and beyond to make sure that happens, even if that means going to New Orleans, Louisiana to obtain the best information!