Ann Arbor, MI - February 25, 2009 - "It may be the longest-running annual symposium nationally or internationally that continues to have a significant effect on the practice and specialty of orthodontics," said Dr. James McNamara as he discussed the School of Dentistry's annual Moyers Symposium. The 36th annual program will be held at Rackham Auditorium on Feb. 28 and March 1. McNamara, the Graber Professor of Dentistry, has been involved with the symposium from the start and has been program chair for more than 30 years.

Every year since 1974 hundreds of orthodontists, residents, private practitioners, and other oral health care professionals, and those from the medical community, have traveled to Ann Arbor to hear world-renowned experts discuss new orthodontic research, clinical advances, craniofacial growth and development, and trends that ultimately affect the treatment patients receive. "The department is pleased to continue the tradition of this outstanding symposium," said Dr. Sunil Kapila, chair of the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry.

"This symposium appeals to a broad audience, both in dentistry and in medicine, and that can be a difficult challenge since this is both a clinical symposium and one where basic science as well as translational research are presented," McNamara said. "This approach gives clinicians a significant amount of information they can use when they return to their offices. In an era of evidence based treatment, the practitioner learns not only how to do something, but also the research supporting it," he added.

Many who attend the symposium have been coming to Ann Arbor from across the U.S., Europe, and Asia "for twenty-five or thirty years," McNamara said. "They keep returning because they enjoy coming to Ann Arbor, hearing expert speakers in the profession present new information on a range of orthodontic topics, and reconnecting with colleagues."

Planning for the symposium begins two years in advance. Topics considered reflect cutting-edge trends in orthodontics and craniofacial biology. "It's a challenge to determine a relevant topic each year, but one always emerges," McNamara said. "Some of the topics presented are controversial, but they reflect important breakthroughs in orthodontics." Click this link to see a list of previous symposia topics.

A presymposium, the International Conference on Craniofacial Research, is held the day before the conference. Typically, 16 individuals speak for 20 minutes on papers ranging from cellular and molecular biology to the latest in clinical orthodontic research. This year's event, now in its 35^th year, features speakers from eight countries including Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Australia.

Another feature of the symposium that assures a long-lasting impact on orthodontics is the Craniofacial Growth Monograph Series. Each year a book is published on the focus of the symposium that includes chapters by all symposium speakers and presymposium speakers who address the same general topic. "The last two volumes have been about 500 pages, providing a lasting overview of the topic considered. No other symposium in medicine or dentistry has such a continuous publication history," McNamara said.

Previous Moyers Symposium Topics

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation's leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.

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