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Dental Tribune U.S.Edition No.3, 2017

B4 AO A N N UA L M E E T I NG Implant Tribune U.S. Edition | March 2017 AO keynote to focus on ‘whole person’ at Orlando meeting Dr. Helms: Dental clinicians may need to redeine beauty By Jill Helms, DDS, PhD, Professor of Surgery, Stanford Medicine Dental clinicians often play instrumental roles in restor- ing the integrity of a pa- tient’s face; they also are in a unique position to help their patients appreciate the internal beauty as well. This is what I plan to address during my keynote presentation, titled “Beau- ty Reconsidered,” at the Academy of Osseointegration’s 2017 Annual Meeting. Neuroscientists tell us that our brains are hard-wired to recognize and respond to beauty. There is a region of the brain where neurons speciically ire when we gaze upon a face. Within months of birth, infants use this brain region to recognize and dis- criminate among faces and the emotions portrayed by these faces. So, when some- thing disrupts our facial appearance — whether it is caused by disease, defor- mity or trauma — it can have a profound impact on how others see us and how we see ourselves. Facial changes affect our sense of well-being. That’s why it is critical for dental cli- nicians to treat the whole person. You aren’t just restoring a part of the patient’s anatomy; you are restoring their sense of completeness. There may be surgical limitations to the repair, but as you approach a pa- tient’s restorative plan, I urge you to con- sider how you can assist them in redein- ing what is beautiful. Join me at AO’s meeting, taking place March 15-18 in Orlando, Fla. Let’s do this together: Let’s teach ourselves and our patients that beauty is not determined by a surgical outcome alone. AD ‘There may be surgical limitations to the repair, but as you approach a patient’s restorative plan, I urge you to consider how you can assist them in redeining what is beautiful.’ Beauty is deined by authenticity, com- passion and perseverance in the face of adversity. I hope this talk helps to guide you on a journey that goes beyond a validation of external beauty, and gets to the deeper business of appreciating the beauty that exists inside each of us.

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