The 3-day orthodontic industry event featured over 100 lectures which will be available to registrants online for a 30-day period following the conference. 

The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) wrapped up its 2021 Annual Session on Sunday. The 3-day virtual event featured over 100 lectures, including keynote addresses from Dave McGillivray, race director of the Boston Marathon; Mitch Albom, author, journalist, and philanthropist; and Chris Bentson, partner at Bentson Copple & Associates. 

The event also featured a virtual exhibit hall and three sessions devoted to the AAO’s new TechSelect program. TechSelect is an exclusive member resource created to provide a comprehensive, unbiased resource for fabricating in-office aligners. AAO TechSelect is the first program from the AAO’s Innovation and Transformation Fund established by the 2019 House of Delegates. Additional TechSelect product focuses are expected in the future. 

All program content from the Annual Session will be available online for 30 days after the event. This is complimentary with registration. This will allow Annual Session attendees additional time to complete CE certificates.  

The in-person component of the Annual Session was originally scheduled to be held in Boston in May, but was cancelled in April because of COVID-19 restrictions in place in the host city and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the time. This is the second year the Annual Session was forced to go virtual due to the pandemic. 

According to the AAO, the 2021 Annual Session had a total of 4,733 registrants, with 84% coming from the United States. 

The association plans to get back to in-person meetings next year. Originally scheduled for Honolulu, Hawaii, the 2022 Annual Session will instead be held in Miami Beach, Fla. The move comes after the State of Hawaii informed the AAO in May that space inside the Hawaii Convention Center would not be available to groups, including the AAO, through the end of 2022. The space is being set aside to house state agencies carrying out services related to the pandemic. 

Within weeks, the AAO was able to secure a new location that met all its requirements, a process that typically occurs 9 to 10 years in advance, according to AAO CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon. 

The 2022 Annual Session in Miami Beach will take place May 21 to 24, 2022.