I recently attended the ICCMO 16th International Congress in Vancouver, Canada. The International Congress is held every two years and rotates among the various international chapters of the ICCMO and is scheduled for 2013 in Munich, Germany. I continue to serve on the Board of Directors of the ICCMO and therefore it was necessary for me to attend a full day of business meetings which for me are always tedious, but nevertheless an important part of the work of continuing the growth of Neuromuscular Dentistry around the world. This year attendees included neuromuscular dentists from the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Argentina and India. Many of the scientific presentations were presented in the presenters native language through interpreters which required absolute focus. Therefore, I welcomed breaks and lunches. I gave a brief presentation entitled “Iatrogenic Dentistry and the Case for Neuromuscular Dentistry” reviewing some of the common dental conditions caused by misdiagnosis resulting in misdirected treatment. I also used this opportunity to implore our members to increase their efforts to educate our colleagues as to the benefits of Neuromuscular Dentistry for their patients and themselves. Many other presenters demonstrated excellent treatment results with the aid of Neuromuscular concepts. I returned to my practice with new perspectives and renewed enthusiasm thanks to these great dentists.
Fortunately, there were opportunities to visit casually with many dear colleagues I only have the opportunity to see once every year or two. As I found the German presentation regarding dental occlusal rehabilitation particularly interesting, I sought out several members of the German section to discuss their upcoming annual meeting agenda. They very kindly invited me to attend their next conference in Nuremberg, Germany in February 2012. After a very brief consideration I have decided to go and see first hand what interesting ideas my German friends are working on now. They have told me this will be the first visit of a USA section member to their annual conference.
For now, Auf weidersehen!
