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| events 2017 AO Annual Meeting Orlando Author: Dr Rolf Vollmer, Germany Author details Fig. 1: Dr Mazen Tamimi (middle) at the ACTEON exhibition booth. Fig. 2: Dr Mario Rodrigues (left) and Dr Rainer Valentin. Fig. 3: Dr Suheil Boutros. On behalf of the Annual Meeting Program Com- mittee, Program Committee Chair Dr Jeffrey Ganeles and the president Dr Alan Pollack welcomed more than 2,500 attendees to Orlando and the 2017 An- nual Meeting of the Academy of Osseointegration (AO). As part of his remarks, Dr Pollack also provided his presidential address in which he stated, “Much of the ‘take-away’ from these meetings derives from sharing ideas and problems with colleagues. Sitting next to someone in the lecture halls who may prac- tice across the country or across the globe, in a dif- ferent practice setting and performing procedures that you don’t, or wouldn’t do yourself offers the opportunity to open your mind to different perspec- tives and share disparate experiences.” This year’s event was inspired by author Jim Collins, who’s book titled, “Good to Great®” described how companies transition from being good companies to great companies. Dr Jeffrey Ganeles pointed out that this drive for constant improvement envelopes our field in implant dentistry and captures the enthusiasm of the synergistic partnership. To quote from the last paragraph of the book: “When all these pieces come together, not only does your work move towards greatness, but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” On that note, Dr Ganeles concluded: “On behalf of the committee, I hope you are amazed and frustrated, challenged and stimu- lated and overwhelmingly motivated by our meeting.” Before the Annual Meeting officially kicked off, many educational opportunities were available. Wednesday, 15 March, two unique and fascinating presentations on dental radiology and cellular and biomechanical aspects of osseointegration were given by experts particularly useful to fulfill aca- demic requirements for the AO Certificate Program. Thursday morning brought a strong Corporate Forum. Then the Opening Symposium on Thursday afternoon featured keynote speaker Dr Jill Helms, followed by lectures from five well-known interna- tional experts. Friday, 17 March began at 7:00 am with an innovative new session called “Business of Implant Dentistry—SWOT Analysis of Implant Dental Care Delivery Models”. Its speakers represented traditional referral based practices. Parallel this session, there were the Masters sessions presented by Drs Anthony Sclar, Lawrence Brecht, Thomas Taylor, HP Weber, Mauricio Araujo, Stephen Parel and Tiziano Testori. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 42 implants 2 2017