History of the International Association of Dental Traumatology
The International Association of Dental Traumatology (IADT) is a global association that seeks to unite general dentists, specialists, and other colleagues who are interested in dental traumatology. The mission is to promote optimal prevention and treatment services in this multidisciplinary area in dentistry. The target groups are dental and medical colleagues, the public and interested parties in education, sports, industry and appropriate governmental agencies.
It all began in 1984. Drs. Jim Gutmann, Paul Radman and Jack Harrison of the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) arranged a dental trauma profile meeting, now acknowledged as the First World Congress on Dental Traumatology in Dallas, Texas. Sponsored by the AAE Foundation, it attracted speakers and participants from many parts of the world, and sparked a growing interest in dental traumatology.
In February 1989, Dr. Jens Andreasen invited dental trauma researchers to a minisymposium on a cruise ship traveling from Stockholm, Sweden to Helsinki, Finland. Among those present were Drs. Frances Andreasen, Miomir Cvek, Lars Andersson, Barbro Malmgren, Ingeborg Jacobsen, Annika Skoglund, Lars Kristersson, Bengt Mohlin, Seppo Järvinen, and Åke Nygren. At that time, almost all research in dental traumatology originated from the Scandinavian countries.
This group spent 2 days aboard together and discussed how to best develop dental traumatology worldwide. This was the founding meeting of the World Association on Dental Traumatology, which was later named the International Association of Dental Traumatology, with agreement that worldwide meetings and congresses be arranged to stimulate interest, and a scientific journal be established where research could be published.
With the help of Dr. Åke Nygren from the Swedish insurance company Folksam, plans were initiated for the International Conference on Oral Trauma, nowadays entitled as Second World Congress on Dental Traumatology, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1989, with Scandinavian and international participants. At this meeting, the International Association of Dental Traumatology was officially formed on September 21st. An important document was adopted at this conference called the Stockholm Manifesto on Accident Prevention, which stated that “all human beings have an equal right to health and safety”. That document formed the basis for the IADT’s goal of bringing together international health care providers with an interest in dental traumatology. Dr. Jens Andreasen was elected the first president of the IADT, a position he held for the next 12 years. He has played an outstanding role in promoting the objectives of the IADT: research, education, and public awareness. The first IADT officers and directors elected in Stockholm were Drs. Jacobsen (Vice-President), Sjöström (Secretary-Treasurer), and Ericsson, Cvek, Nygren, Hammarström, Oikarinen, Tronstad, Scheer, Kaufmann and Matsumoto (Directors).
The Third International Conference on Dental Trauma, now listed as Third World Congress on Dental Traumatology, then was arranged in June 11-15, 1991 in Copenhagen, Denmark with international speakers from many dental specialties merging together under the leadership of Dr. Jens Andreasen and Dr. Frances Andreasen.
Subsequently the IADT sponsored a number of World Congresses in various locations:
The 1993 Fourth International Congress on Dental Traumatology took place in London, England in June 10-12 and was chaired by Dr. Barry Scheer. At this occasion, the IADT president, Jens Ove Andreasen was given the honor of being “knighted” with the “Order of the Garter” during the congress banquet.
The Fifth World Congress on Dental Trauma took place in La Jolla, USA in October 13-16, 1994 and was chaired by Dr. Leif Bakland, co-sponsored by the IADT and the California State Association of Endodontists. It was focused on the theme of “Treatment Decisions in Dental Trauma“. One of the many highlights of the congress was the awarding of a certificate of appreciation to long-time trauma pioneer, Dr. Miomir Cvek.
In May 27-28, 1995, the Sixth International Congress on Dental Trauma took place in Tokyo, Japan with Dr. Koukichi Matsumoto as chair, with an attendance of 400 dentists from 20 countries.
Florence, Italy, was the site of the Seventh World Congress on Dental Trauma in May 9-11, 1996. The congress was cosponsored by the IADT and the IADT-Italy organizations under the chairmanship of Dr. Damaso Caprioglio. Over 530 dentists from 40 countries attended. Guarujá, near São Paulo, Brazil, became the host site for the Eight World Congress on Dental Trauma in October 22-25, 1997. Prevention and education were the theme of the conference, which was chaired by Drs. Abilio de Moura and Harry Davidowicz.
The Ninth World Congress on Dental Trauma convened in Eilat, Israel in October 20-23, 1998 under the auspices of the IADT and the Israel Association for Prevention and Treatment of Dental Trauma. Drs. Arieh Kaufman and Eliyahu Mass had arranged an extensive program with practical demonstrations, lectures and a concluding symposium on a proposed IADT classification of root resorptions.
The largest gathering of attendees for a trauma conference took place in Melbourne, Australia in March 19-21, 1999 when the IADT and Australian Society of Endodontology, Inc. sponsored the Tenth World Congress on Dental Trauma with the theme of “Dental Injuries and their Impact on Health” under the chairmanship of Dr. Barry Feiglin. The Opening Ceremony, attended by over 750 dental health care providers, featured a most spectacular event: Dr. Jens Ove Andreasen was given the opportunity to demonstrate live how to replant an avulsed tooth right in front of the speaker podium! It was actually a stunt concocted by Dr. Feiglin in which an “audiovisual technician” helping with “failing” microphone, tripped and supposedly knocked out his front tooth. It was a very realistic stunt and it took some time before the audience realized the deception.
Oslo, the capital city of Norway, celebrated its 1000 year anniversary in 2000. IADT members who attended the Eleventh World Congress on Dental Trauma in June 22-24, 2000 joined in the celebrations. Over 300 attendees received current information about evidence-based treatment of dental injuries from about 30 experts, in addition to the many oral and poster presentations.
Dr. Martin Trope served as IADT president from 2001 through 2003. He was instrumental in coordinating the combined effort with the Sports Dentistry group and also arranged for subscription to the journal “Dental Traumatology” to be part of membership dues. Both accomplishments further promoted the growth of the IADT. A large number of dentists representing the two organizations, the Academy of Sports Dentistry (ASD) and the IADT, met in Boston, Massachusetts, USA June 20-24, 2001 for a combined meeting of the World Congress on Sports Dentistry and Dental Traumatology. The co-chairs, Dr. Martin Trope (IADT) and Dr. Jack Winters (ASD) assembled a group of specialists from both disciplines and managed to arrange the 5- day schedule of lectures, oral and poster presentations, workshops, and social events in such a way to provide a full menu of events. In 2001, Dr. Trope became Editor-in-Chief of the new journal “Dental Traumatology” which was previously “Endodontics and Dental Traumatology” with Dr. Leif Tronstad as former Editor-in-Chief. The first IADT guidelines were published in the first issue of the new journal “Dental Traumatology” in February 2001.
Dr. Marie Therese Flores served as president of the IADT from 2003 through 2006. Her presidency was highlighted by the successful completion and dissemination of the Dental Trauma Guidelines - considered the authoritative source for treatment information. During that term Dr. Asgeir Sigudsson created and set up the IADT’s website. He tried his hardest to purchase the URL iadt.org but the owner was not willing to sell and therefore the IADT had to settle with the one that is still used: iadt-dentaltrauma.org. The “Save your Tooth”-poster created by Dr. Marie Therese Flores and the designers A. Aspée, R. Bastías and J. Soto has been on the website since the beginning and it is available in thirtyeight languages. Coinciding with becoming President of the IADT, Dr. Marie Therese Flores also served as chair of the Thirteenth World Congress on Dental Traumatology in Santiago, Chile, October 8-10, 2003. With the intriguing theme of “Networking the Evidence” the more than 720 participants from 23 countries benefitted from excellent presentations by lecturers spanning the globe. Because of its location, the congress attracted many dentists from Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Returning to Scandinavia, the Fourteenth World Congress on Dental Traumatology invited participants to Reykjavik, Iceland on May 5-7, 2005. Under the chairmanship of Dr. Asgeir Sigurdsson, an excellent program of lectures and short presentations focused on better understanding of the dynamics of dento-alveolar injuries with the goal of preserving injured tissues and returning patients to high levels of function and esthetics. The conference attracted more than 140 participants from 27 different countries.
Dr. Asgeir Sigurdsson served as president from 2007-2008. During his presidency IADT continued to grow and develop as an international organization and Dr. Marie Therese Flores was active in further developing the web page. The office of Executive Director was established to manage the day-to-day business of the Association. Dr. Leif K. Bakland was appointed in 2008 by the Board of Directors to serve in this position and under his leadership the IADT had further developed to a professional association by managing administrative issues through the central office. The web master, Dr. Sergio Uribe, was commended for his outstanding work on the site; it was voted to present him with certificate of appreciation.
Dr. Mitsuhiro Tsukiboshi served as president during the years 2009-2010 and the IADT continued to grow to 500 members world-wide. During this period the interactive program Dental Trauma Guide was launched as a free resource by Dr. Andreasen’s research group in Copenhagen, with support from IADT and other sponsors. This is an interactive tool where anyone in the world who has access to internet can get immediate information on diagnosis and treatment for individual dental trauma cases. Dr. Tsukiboshi, through a very generous contribution, established the “Jens Ove Andreasen-Mitsuhiro Tsukiboshi Fund” that will help provide the basis for continued financing and development of this program. The 2010 World Congress on Dental Traumatology then was held in June 11-13 in Verona, Italy successfully arranged by Dr. Giacomo Cavalleri and Dr. Elisabetta Cotti.
Dr. Lars Andersson’s presidency lasted from 2011-2014. During this time, the IADT developed more professional structures, contracting with the administrative office RES and setting up a committee structure which distributed work and responsibilities with the aim to involve colleagues outside the board of directors. The IADT embraced the social media by creating its own Facebook page and improved the IADT web site. Furthermore, the standardized trauma glossary was introduced and the IADT started to work on a core outcome set for traumatic dental injuries. New IADT Guidelines for emergency treatment were published, endorsed by the American Association of Endodontists and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. The Guidelines had been translated into many languages and are still considered the standard of care in management of traumatic dental injuries. Also, The Board had elected to establish an IADT award entitled the "Jens Ove Andreasen Lifetime Achievement Award in Dental Traumatology". Due to his immense and extraordinary contribution to the science of dental traumatology, Dr. Jens Andreasen awarded this prize first. Two very successful World Congresses, both with 600-700 participants, had been arranged during that period. Firstly, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the leadership of Dr. Renato Lenzi, in September, 2012 entitled “The Art and Science: Overcoming the limits of our knowledge”. The Congess was preceded by an endodontic series from Penn University and held in parallel meeting of the Brazilian Maxillofacial Society. Secondly, the conference in Istanbul, Turkey, June 19-21, 2014 was chaired by Dr. Nil Altay. As president, Dr. Lars Andersson had been privileged to personally present the "Jens Ove Andreasen Lifetime Achievement Award in Dental Traumatology" to Dr. Martin Trope.
Dr. Alex Moule served as president of the IADT from 2015-2016. Highlights of his term were the establishment of Foundation Fellows and the introduction of the IADT Fellowship after many years of planning, supporting the Dental Traumatology Core Outcomes Study under the direction of Dr. Peter Day, a change of the Bylaws to allow elections for officers and directors to be held in the same calendar year, and a revision of the IADT’s Mission Statement. Work on two important initiatives also commenced, with the launch of the IADT case competition and the initiation of the IADT’s Facebook Group, chaired by Dr. Nestor Cohenca who started this project with 10 group-members. Today IADT has a following of over 11,500 professionals from all over the world. The19th World Congress in Brisbane, Australia, in 2016 held in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Associations of Endodontology in August 11-13, 2018 was a huge scientific success. Over 800 delegates from 31 countries listened to nearly 30 keynote speakers sharing their knowledge. For the first time, concurrent Lunch and Learn sessions were featured. One highlight of this congress was Dr. Moule presenting the award of the IADT’s highest honour, the "Jens Ove Andreasen Lifetime Achievement Award in Dental Traumatology" to Dr. Marie Therese Flores.
During his presidency from 2017-2018 Dr. Nestor Cohenca strengthened the IADT’s presence in social media, initiated and supervised the development of the free ToothSOS Dental Trauma App and joined forces with the DTG (Dental Trauma Guide) allowing free access to IADT members. Furthermore, the IADT was also instrumental in supporting the publication of the Core Outcome Study in 2018. The 20th World Congress on Dental Traumatology was held in San Diego, USA in August 2018. The four-day program was one of the most ambitious and comprehensive programs ever presented at a World Congress. Partnering with the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), the IADT presented an wide array of educational opportunities for the 600 attendees. A highlight of the congress was the presentation of the "Jens Ove Andreasen Lifetime Achievement Award in Dental Traumatology" to Dr. Mitsuhiro Tsukiboshi.
In 2019, Dr Anne O’Connell took over the presidency with ambitions to expand the organization, especially to colleagues in regions previously under represented, and to develop a core curriculum for undergraduate dental education. Another main goal of this presidency is to update the Dental Trauma Guidelines in 2020. Continued dispersal of the ToothSOS App and “Save your Tooth”-posters is also planned. Links to other professional bodies are also being explored to build the multidisciplinary professional base for Dental Traumatology. New membership rates have been proposed to encourage new members and electronic access to the journal extended. The mission to convert our Facebook followers to become active members seeks to encourage active participation by all members within the organization as we seek to spread awareness and knowledge on dental traumatology. Distribution of additional educational resources to IADT members is being developed such as video links, e-learning and patient information. The 21st World Congress on Dental Trauma will be held in June in Lisbon 2020 and is cohosted by the European Society of Endodontology (ESE) and the Portuguese Society of Endodontics (PSE). The programme continues to promote modern multidisciplinary evidence based knowledge and is always an opportuntity to expand the traumatology network of international colleagues.