Swords Orthodontics heads to New Orleans

for the American Association of Orthodontics 2014

May is the month for the world's biggest orthodontic jamboree, and in 2014 the American Associations of Orthodontists had their annual conference in New Orleans and Swords Orthodontics was in the midst of it all in force with Dr Murray, Brenda and Michelle attending several days of lectures, presentations and an enormous trade show exhibiting all the new equipment and materials imaginable to help us treat our patients.

In addition to the show, our friends in the Invisalign company were able to arrange a visit to one of the region's top Invisalign providers to learn his secrets and see how an American orthodontics practice (they call them "orthodontics office") is run. This was very helpful for Michelle who was about to start the Trinity College orthodontic therapist training programme and the American system of orthodontic treatment provision relies significantly on assistants like our ortho therapists to help an orthodontist provide treatment for patients.

As well as all the clinical stuff, there are various other lectures and presentations on running a better practice and providing a better service for patients behind the scenes. One of these that made a big impression on Dr Murray was a talk by Jeff Hargett, the man who does the training at the Ritz Carlton Leadership Centre (they probably spell it Center), which is an organisation that allows a business to compare its customer service to Ritz Carlton hotels. A handy benchmark for anyone!