The AAO wants members to send a message to Congress supporting policies that defer loans for graduating orthodontic residents.

The American Association of Orthodontists is asking members to send a message to Congress to support policies that ease the burden of student loan debt.

According to the AAO, the average graduating orthodontic resident owes $428,150 in student loan debt. One way to ease the burden is to defer student loans interest-free until residency is completed.

At the AAO’s Leadership Conference in Orlando, nearly 200 messages to Congress were sent from residents and orthodontists. 

The AAO wants to continue the momentum by asking members to send a message supporting policies like the bipartisan Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act (HR 4122).

The REDI Act would allow medical and dental residents to defer their student loans interest-free while in residency, saving them tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

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