Orthodontists from around the world recently took part in the first-ever South Asian Association of Regional Conference postgraduate orthodontic students’ convention. The 3-day conference took place last week at the Bharati Vidyapeeth University’s (BVU) dental college in Pune, India, and coincided with the 12th convention of the Indian Orthodontic Society.

The convention provided a platform for students, teachers, and expert professionals to share knowledge on research and clinical achievements in orthodontics in India and abroad, according to Ravindranath Sable, organizing chairman and head of the department of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics at the BVU dental college.

According to Sable, a lot of research was on in the field of materials and technology that facilitate various types of surgical treatment for curing people with dentofacial deformities. "In the past, it used to be the ugly-looking and often inconvenient stainless clips that were used for correcting irregular teeth. Now, we have sophisticated implants made of newly developed materials, replacing these clips.

"India is still to gain an upper hand in the fabrication of dental clips by using computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technology. This work still continues in foreign countries," Sable said.

American orthodontists who spoke included Robert R. Lokar, DDS, a part-time associate professor at the University of Detroit who has patents for various dental surgical appliances; and Shiva Shankar, DDS, director of postgraduate studies at Ohio State University.