The European Journal of Orthodontics 2007 29(5):538-540; doi:10.1093/ejo/cjm093
© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Orthodontic Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
Report on the 83rd Congress and 100th anniversary of the European Orthodontic Society
The stage had been set for the start of the celebration of the
100
th anniversary of the EOS with the publication of the special
issue of the European Journal of Orthodontics and the disk containing
the history of the Society since its inception in 1907. The
meeting in Berlin from the 20th to the 24th June under the Presidency
of Professor Rainer-Reginald Miethke was without doubt the ‘icing
on the cake’ for the 3203 registered delegates from 77
countries. The Congress was held in conjunction with the Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Kieferorthopädie (DGFKO) and, as
anticipated, the largest delegation was from Germany.
Prior to the start of the Congress a number of meetings were held: the European Board of Orthodontists' examination at which Arturo Fortini (Italy), Massimo Lupoli (Italy), Patrick Vallon (France) and Kyoto Takemoto (Japan) were accepted as members; the postgraduate course, sponsored by Dentaurum, given by Sabine Ruf on ‘Treatment principles of patients with an Angle Class II division 1 malocclusion’; the pre-congress course on ‘Treatment of adult patients with severely compromised dentitions’ given by Vittorio Cacciafesta; the European Teachers' Forum, and the EPSOS and EFOSA meetings.
Following the opening of the trade exhibition at which 107 companies were present, the opening ceremony and welcome reception took place in the Philharmonic Hall. After introductory speeches from the EOS President, Professor Bärbel Kahl-Nieke (President of the DGFKO), Professor Kees Booy (Past President of the EOS), Professor Sabine Ruf (President of the Germany Society's meeting) and Dr Jürgen Weitkamp (President of the German Dental Association) and following the presentation to the EOS of a limited edition print from the DGFKO, we were magnificently entertained by Annette Yashpon, Cello Mania and two local school choirs – whether it was wonderful acoustics, the excellence of the music, or the outfits worn by the pianist is not known, but without doubt the presentation was extremely well received and enjoyed, without exception, by all those present. A video of the venues where previous EOS Congresses had been held together with photographs of the Past Presidents was shown. As noted by Professor van der Linden, this was one of the best, if not the best, opening ceremonies that he had attended.
The introductory keynote lecture on Thursday was given by Thomas Schnalke, Professor for Medical History and Medical Museology at the Berlin Charité on ‘The state of the art in the medical sciences around 1907’, which set the scene for the topic of ‘100 years of orthodontics’. Other keynote lecturers were Fraser McDonald, Neil Pender, and Kevin O'Brien of the U.K, Robert Isaacson, Robert Keim and David Turpin of the USA and Birte Melsen of Denmark. During the afternoon Professor Frans van der Linden of the Netherlands gave the Sheldon Friel Lecture on ‘Myths and legends in orthodontics’. This was followed by the Houston Award Research Lectures.
The President's reception in the evening took place in the Konzerthaus, formerly the Schauspielhaus am Gendarmenmarkt, which was completely destroyed in World War II. Following restoration, the building was reopened in 1984 with three main areas for concerts. The rain did not dampen the spirit (or even the drinks) of the delegates, and a wonderful evening was had by all.
While the Congress was taking place, a number of trips were arranged for the accompanying delegates including walking and boat tours of Berlin, museum visits and an excursion to Potsdam and Sanssouci Palace, with the return journey to Berlin by boat. This particular feature of the Congresses is very much enjoyed by those attending.
The keynote topics on Friday and Saturday were on IT and CAD/CAM, Failure, relapse and retention and free topics, with keynote lectures given by Rohit Sachdeva, James Vaden and William Shaw, respectively. Excellent presentations were given by the invited speakers on all topics, supported by a large number of oral presentations. More than 400 posters were on display throughout the Congress, with a special session set aside for delegates to discuss their findings.
The postgraduate disco took place in the evening at Watergate, a club situated next to the river Spree. From the comments on Saturday and the difficulties experienced by some in getting to the lectures on time, it appears that this was an outstanding success. Unfortunately, or fortunately, no photographs are available of this event; perhaps this was intentional!
During the award ceremony presentations were made to: Dr Rui Xie of The Netherlands (Houston Oral Research Award), Dr Nazan Adali U.K. (Houston Poster Award), Dr Verena Nedwed, Germany, Dr Aikaterina Mesimeri, Germany and Dr Jun-ichi Takada of Japan for the three best posters. The winners of the Beni Solow Award for the best article published in the EJO in 2006 were announced as Riyad Al-Qawsami et al. for their paper ‘Root resorption associated with orthodontic force in inbred mice: genetic contributions’. Professor Christoph Bourauel was presented with the 2007 Distinguished Teachers' Award.
In recognition of the fact that the first century of the EOS was also the century of mobility best symbolised by cars, the gala evening took place in the unique atmosphere of the Meilenwerk. This building, formerly a tram depot, was recently converted into a living heaven of fine and collector's cars. Underneath hundreds of flags, guests from all over the world were welcomed by the President and his partner, Hansine Borchers, with a glass of champagne. A lady saxophonist accompanied the guests as they walked around looking at displays of rare vintage cars and accessories. Clad in leatherjacket and goggles against a strong artificial head wind, there was the opportunity to drive an historic motorbike. Photographs of this event were given as a souvenir. The highlight of the evening was a delicious Italian style buffet with everything from A (as in Amaretto) to Z (as in Zabliogne). After satisfying their palates, an enjoyable evening was had in a relaxed atmosphere speaking with old colleagues and making new friends.
It is the tradition to conclude EOS congresses with the Silver Mill Competition. This year on a sunny Sunday morning buses took the participants from downtown Berlin to the Bornstedt Crown Estate, close to Potsdam. Here, all became part of baroque history as they were welcomed by peasants in simple historical rural-life canvas dresses, who played historic instruments and led everybody to the playground. The competition included games played by the nobility at those times: tug of war, jumping jack, etc. which challenged the artistic skills of the participants. In order to distinguish the competing teams, they were dressed in different colourful historical costumes. The winners of the Silver Mill were a combined team from Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and UK). It seems that as a result of ‘global warming’, the UK and South Africa have moved to the south and east. After the competition and a buffet lunch, there were ample opportunities to explore Bornstedt Crown Estate with its working brewery, bakery, and other historical craft sites.
For those not attending the outing there was an opportunity to participate in the post-congress course given by Professor Axel Bumann of Germany on ‘How much does the temporomandibular joint affect orthodontic treatment’.
The success of the Congress was in no small part due to the hard work and professionalism of the Organising Committee and they are to be congratulated on such an outstanding meeting.
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