2004 Annual Meeting Review

   Twelfth Annual Meeting Review
October 14-16, 2004
Caribe Hilton Resort & Spa, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Theme: Excellence in Evidence-Based Dentistry 

LETTER FROM THE SCIENTIFIC CHAIR

The Hispanic Dental Association achieved the WOW Phenomenon during their 12th Annual Session in San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!

It feels like yesterday when we, as the 12th Annual Meeting Planning Committee, Dr. R. Ivan Lugo as the President of the HDA and Ms. Sandy Reed as the Executive Director of the HDA were having conference calls to try to determine what should we achieve during this annual session. It quickly came to Dr. Lugo’s attention the idea of achieving the so-called “WOW Phenomenon”; from that moment on, everybody in the team knew that this meeting was going to be not only a challenge but would actually get a taste of the HDA’s new era which was about to begin.

From our Keynote speaker Dr. Antonia Novello’s (Former Surgeon General of the United States) electrifying and energetic “Challenges in Oral Health Disparity: A Call to Action” speech, to the deeply felt “Forensic Dentistry – Lessons Learned from the World Trade Center Disaster” conference by Dr. Jeff Burkes; this annual session had every element necessary to keep the attendees in the lecture rooms and away from their sun block and swimsuit.

The student participation together with the student chapters represented one of the largest ever; their research activities and findings nurtured every one that stop by to discuss any of their posters during the scientific session.

It was the “WOW Phenomenon” that made the registrations increase by at least 50% and the partnership and collaboration of the University of Puerto Rico brought in a group of supporters and new members not seen in the past.

Everyone that attended the annual session witnessed the results of the endless efforts of our organization and its past and present leaders: “A solid unprecedented group of professionals united to change the oral health disparities in the Hispanic community”.

I have been to many dental super meetings in different great places but this one has to be the “Pinnacle.” The speakers exceeded our expectations and their speaking ability was greatly enhanced by their visual presentations.

Puerto Rico and its welcoming people raised our expectations to such a level that the upcoming sessions will have to work very hard to meet or exceed the standard set.

We were fortunate to have the support of many important sponsors and I would encourage you to personally thank the company representatives for their support and tell them how important their contributions are to our profession. Those who were there showed their respect for our association and appreciation for our business and we cannot thank them enough.

I am grateful to everybody that supported and encouraged this great project; especially I would like to thank every one in the HDA especially those in Suite 415 in Chicago that, guided by Ms. Sandy Reed, put endless hours working behind the scenes. Thanks to them we were able to enjoy one of the greatest meetings ever!

Francisco A. Banchs, Odont., D.M.D., M.Sc.
Diplomate, American Board of Endodontics
Scientific Chair 12th Annual Meeting, 2004