I am impressed with the American Association of Orthodontist (AAO) as well as their president Dr. John Callahan. The organization recently sent a letter to Invisalign and I don't know if I have ever seen someone send a letter of disagreement that was more polite.
Recently Invisalign has come up with a palatal expander system that is designed differently than traditional appliances. To market the new system, Invisalign created an ad that has been running on Facebook (and perhaps other places as well).
The AAO has concerns about the ad and the way it portrays the traditional palatal expanders that many dentists and orthodontists prescribe and use. To sum it up, the traditional appliances are portrayed as barbaric in their use. Due to that, many doctors who have used those appliances for decades have felt a bit put in a bad spot and among those are many orthodontists.
So, in order to make their feelings heard, those orthodontists turned to their professional association the AAO to help deliver their message from a united front. This is an example of why I really believe in professional organizations. Dentistry and orthodontics should have someone speak for them to promote and explain the position of the profession and I feel one of the best ways to do that is from an organization that represents those professionals.
So we come to the most important part of this story. Dr. John Callahan, who is the president of AAO, wrote a letter to the folks at Align Technologies (parent company of Invisalign) to express the views of orthodontists. This letter should be taught at the university level in classes teaching how to get the point across that you are unhappy with a situation while being positive, honest, and honorable.
I happen to agree with the AAO on this situation, but even if I didn't I'd still be telling folks to read this letter. It is a masterpiece of presenting his case while not insulting or angering the recipient.
Head over to the AAO website to read what Dr. Callahan has to say.
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