NEWS Message From Our President

How The Outside Views Dentistry Dorothy Jungwood and Muriel James wrote a marvelous book entitled Born to Win. In the book they point out that man was born to win but, throughout a lifetime, as a result of our nega- tive society he is conditioned to lose. During the last few years this has been the environment that has surrounded us in dentistry. The first presidential messages published in July and August, discussed the memberships' role in the AAE. They asked for participation and input. With those messages I

tried to stimulate interest and to raise issues that have been of concern to members for years.

Respondents to the early messages implicated colleagues, organized dentistry, universities and society in the spread of negative attitudes. How much of this con- ditioned attitude has risen from negative feedings from the press, radio, television and friends? Future growth, prosperity and success are not decided by them. The responsibility for these things is placed squarely on your shoulders.

You can allow negative attitudes to depress you and make you non-responsive or you can surround yourself with positive people and attitudes and not wait until everything is perfect to offer input. I have tried to instill such an attitude in the AAE. Perhaps you should also know that other businessmen have a more affirmative opinion of the dental future than many dentists.

A New York consultant firm, Frost and Sullivan, has suggested that the market for dental supplies alone would reach 1.5 billion dollars in 1985 and laboratory ser- vices would increase 1o 3.0 billion dollars. Someone must be working. New com- panies are entering the dental market. Major companies such as Johnson & Johnson have developed new products and expanded into new divisions of the den- tal market.

What about the consumer? What is his reaction? On January 3, 1984, the New York Times' list of the ten largest over-the-counter-gainers, showed the leader as Dento-Med industries, which accumulated a one-year gain of 2450%. The 52-week changes for more established companies were as follows: Sybron (Kerr) 16-1/8 - 24-1/2, Syntex (Star, DentaI-Ez) 44-1/8 - 62-1/2, and Pennwalt (S.S. White) 29 - 45-3/4.

Perhaps the above quotations are the results of mergers or even the anticipatory enthusiasm for newly marketed or soon-to-be marketed products. Whatever the case, they point toward an optimism about present or future profit and productivity in the dental marketplace. If so many look optimistically towards dentistry why listen to those who don't? Frequently, it is the optimist who assumes responsibility, who gives the necessary energy, input, and support to bolster an organization in difficult times and to advance it in favorable ones. "When a man puts a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do."

Benjamin Franklin Donald E. Arens, DDS, MDS, President

International News In 1978, the C.L.A.I.D.E. (Spanish-Latin American Congress on Endodontists),

was organized by the Argentine Soci- ety of Endodontists (Section of the A.O.A.) and held in Buenos Aires. At the Congress, with the help of most of the Latin American countries and Spain, the A.I.L.A.E. (Spanish-Latin American Association of Endodontists) was created.

Its institution encouraged the crea-

tion of other new endodontic societies and two international Congresses with large representation of the countries which are members of the A.I.LA.E.

Additionally, the incorporation of the American Association of Endodontists as a fraternal member of A.I.L.A.E. has made it possible for the latter to strengthen its links with the Board of Directors. As a result, in the near future, it will be possible to complete the translation of titles, subtitles and Summaries of some scientific articles from the Journal of Endodontics into

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Spanish. The translations will enable all Spanish speaking colleagues to under- stand the valuable information, which the AAE offers in its monthly Journal.

Notes From Here And There On October 1, 1983, at the Annual Con- vocation in Anaheim, the following members of the AAE were inducted as Fellows in the American College of Den- tists: Drs. Jerome H. Balbus, Will iam O. Coley Jr., John W. Harrison, Louis E. Hirschman, Joseph D. Maggio, James H. Pearce Jr., Benjamin Sed- lezky, James H. Simon and Gary N. Taylor - - our congratulations to all! . . . Several AAE members participated in the 119th Midwinter Meeting of the Chicago Dental Society by giving pre- sentations of many sorts. These in- cluded: Immediate Past-President Dr. Noah Chivian in a television course ent i t led "Endodont ic Upda te " , President-Elect Dr. Stephen Schwartz in an all-day presentation on "Endodon- tic Improvisation", Dr. Richard Walton in a lecture on "Effective Endodontic Techniques for the General Practitioner" and Dr. Edward Osetek in a clinic on "Success and Failure in En- dodontics". Dr. Osetek also served on a multidisciplinary review panel for the participation course "Restorative Diagnosis and Treatment Planning - - A Multidisciplinary Approach" while Dr. Robed S. Greenberg was co-presentor of a lecture on "Traumatic Injuries of Teeth". A panel discussion entitled "What's New in Endodontics" focused on the pros and cons of the latest infor- mation in endodontics and featured Drs. Stephen Schwartz, Harold Gerstein, Richard Walton and AAE Secretary Dr. Michael Heuer. Members of the Edgar D. Coolidge Endodontic Study Club gave two presentations at the meeting: "An Overview of Surgical Endodontics" with Drs. Robert J. Beaudry and George M. McWalter and "Endodon- tics - - Back to the Basics", with Drs. James Howard and James McCor. mick. Endodontic Breakfast Table discussions were conducted by Drs. Michael Heuer, Stephen Schwartz, Richard Walton and Robert Greenberg as well as Endodontic Table Clinics by Drs. David L. Crane and J. Jeffrey Baldi.