Page 23 - Academy of Osseointegration (AO) Academy News Vol 36, No 1 2025

EDITOR’S EDITORIAL
Academy News is going digital to better
accomplish its mission
By: AO Fellow Mehrdad Favagehi, DDS, MS; Academy News Editor
For almost a decade, Academy News has lived a dual life with the digital versions posted on the AO website and the print version mailed to our members. Beginning with this edition, Academy News will only be available in digital format.
About 10 years ago, the Academy’s Board of Directors made a similar decision to discontinue paper posters by making AO the first dental organization to completely transition to ePosters. Back then, as the Chair of the Research Submissions Committee, I worked with AO leaders, executive staff and members in our committee
to implement the digital transition to ePosters. Going digital was very successful. EPoster submissions increased as the digital format was more user friendly for both the submitters and our members, who are able to access all the ePosters from the past annual meetings on the AO website using search options to look for a subject and also access embedded video clips.
Likewise, Academy News online will allow more features and enhancements to the newsletter. The digital format will feature higher quality photos and hyperlinks for more in-depth information. Future digital-only issues would be able to accommodate video clips embedded in newsletter articles. Members will be able to access the newsletter with their smart phones, and other digital devices for better access and ability to share articles. In addition, doing away with the printed version is also good for the environment as we don’t have to print and mail thousands of issues each quarter.
The role of the newsletter in an organization such as AO cannot be underestimated. The newsletter’s mission is to update our members about its activities and inform them about issues and trends involving implant dentistry.
One of the trends that we’ve covered recently in our newsletter involves the misuse or overuse of dental implants for different reasons. In a previous editorial
titled “The forbidden fruit in implant dentistry,” I made
an argument that extracting otherwise salvageable teeth and replacing them with implants involves crossing a biological, legal and ethical line that has to be addressed by each clinician with their patients through the informed consent process. I received much feedback from our readers in regard to that editorial including an article titled “Tooth or implant” by Steven G. Lewis, DMD, AO Life Fellow and past President (2008-2009).
More recently, another past President, Jay P. Malmquist, DMD raised concerns with AO leaders about a CBS News Health Watch article dated October 22, 2024 which alleged that “Dentists are pulling healthy and treatable teeth to profit from implants.” On page 6 of this issue, please see the AO response written by board members Bach Le, DDS, MD and Hom-Lay Wang, DDS, MSD, PhD titled: Prioritizing Ethics in the Age of Full-Arch Implant Dentistry calling for all clinicians to uphold the ethical standards that define our profession when recommending teeth removal or implant placement.
The American Association of Endodontists (AAE), and
the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) have released official statements urging their support for saving natural teeth whenever possible.
The 2025 agenda of our team of editorial consultants in the Academy News Committee is to work with AO leaders and executive officers to enhance the digital version of Academy News as we seek to better accomplish our mission to inform members about the latest happenings and the latest trends in implant dentistry. We always look forward to feedback or contributions from all members for our newsletter.
The Editor’s Editorial is intended to contribute to the dialogue on issues important to implant dentists. The views expressed in the editorial do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Academy of Osseointegration or its board
of directors. To provide feedback about this edition,
or contribute as a guest author, please contact
me at mfavagehi@yahoo.com. We will endeavor
to publish
pertinent
comments or
views when
space permits.
Dr. Mehrdad Favagehi
23