Greetings fellow members,

It appears that summer is nearly upon us and while many may be planning vacations, family gatherings or travel to parts unknown, I would urge you to not overlook our annual session which is fast approaching this September. This year’s meeting will be a combined event of AAGFO and ARVTSC and will be hosted by the University of Florida College of Dentistry in Gainesville, September 17-21. A preview of the schedule promises a meeting filled with valuable lectures and a fine compliment of clinical demonstrations as well as ample time for social gatherings.

We have a great opportunity with this meeting to exert some influence on the students of the Advanced Operative and Esthetic Dentistry program at UF. As many of these students will be the operative dentistry educators of tomorrow, I believe it is imperative for us, as academy members, to do our best to instill in them an appreciation for the value of gold as not only a conservative and esthetic restorative option based on principles of preservation, but also as the standard bearer which has long been a hallmark of excellence in operative dentistry that should never be abandoned.

The registration link for the meeting can be found on both AAGFO.org and ARVTSC.org. Please note, payments must be made separately for each participant and also note the separate link for hotel reservations. The deadline for reservations for our room block is July 31st.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Gainesville.

David F. Bridgeman, DDS
AAGFO President 2007, 2025

Dear Fellow Members,

As we enter 2025, I extend heartfelt thanks to Dr. David Thorburn not only for his service as president during the past year, but also for his unwavering commitment to this academy over the entirety of his membership. As the American Academy of Gold Foil Operators approaches three quarters of a century in existence, perhaps no other of my contemporaries have taken to heart the lessons passed down, the honored traditions and the accumulated history which make this academy unique and special within our recognized discipline of Operative Dentistry. And no other member has worked harder compelling us to see the necessity for change before us, encouraging us to adapt and to re-envision our mission to keep our beloved gold foil relevant. Gold Foil is after all, the unmatched standard bearer of restorative materials for longevity and patient service in selected applications.

While clinical demonstrations by skilled members are still an important part of our annual meetings, our new focus is on teaching and mentoring; putting the instruments in the hands of a younger generation and guiding them to successful results so that they may experience the gratification of a job well done and see in their own accomplishment, a potential for lifetime dentistry.

Our nucleus of experience needs to be replenished. I believe, as do our current officers and councilors, that there are young colleagues out there who share our conservative frame of mind, our philosophy of excellence and the same concern for lasting results for patients.

What an incredible job we all witnessed at our recent annual session in Washington, DC. Dr. Eric Morrison who served as our host is to be commended for navigating unexpected obstacles which threatened to diminish our overall efforts. The clinical session ushered three members to active membership. The Short Course on direct and indirect gold had eight registered participants. Two of them were recently joined AAGFO members and the other six applied for membership after the course.

Our 2025 joint meeting with ARVTSC in Gainesville 2025 at the University of Florida figures to be a repeat of this successful format. Plans are well under way and announcements will be forthcoming sometime after our respective executive councils meet in Chicago in February.

Optimism is high as we moved forward and yet there are still some immediate concerns which have been highlighted over the last couple of years. Instrument procurement for new members still eludes us, but will be addressed this year as well as reviewing changes or modifications of other supplies and equipment which may be in order. On the bright side, Dr. Thorburn has taken on a new role as webmaster for AAGFO.org and Dr. Alfred LaPorta has agreed to be the editor of the Gold Leaf which will come out sometime this spring or summer prior to our annual session in Gainesville.

Finally, I am truly honored to be serving once again as president of this esteemed and beloved academy.

David F. Bridgeman, DDS
President 2007, 2025

This past year has been a pivotal year for the Academy. In recent years, many members have lamented that the Academy is fading away, direct gold is no longer considered relevant by many teaching institutions. There are only a handful of dental schools who still present electives on direct gold and unfortunately even cast gold.

The reality is direct gold is known to produce long lasting restorations, and there are still patients and dentists wishing to have their teeth restored with direct gold as well as dentists interested to learn how to place these restorations.

In the summer of 2023, seven North American AAGFO members went to Germany to present a short 2 ½ day course on direct gold at the University of Greifswald. There were 20 dentists and 35 students attending the course. Dr. Heike Steffan (AAGFO member and on faculty there) did an enormous amount of work to organize the course. It was a great success. This demonstrated there is still interest in this technique.

Our goal for the past year 2023-2024 was to add value for our membership.

1. The first area we investigated was CE credits. We researched what would be involved to be associated with AGD PACE or ADA CERP. When we found a lot of our members still have our current CE reports accepted, we put that discussion on hold for now.
2. We decided to redesign the website and hope over time to add a lot of sections that will be helpful for our membership.
3. The Academy owes Dr. Eric Morrison, our Academy secretary, and his receptionist Dawn, a great thank you for all the work they put in to organizing a superb annual meeting in 2024. The neighbourhood in Chevy Chase had wonderful amenities. Travel into Washington DC was easy. The weather was perfect for the whole week. The lectures were excellent, and the clinical session had everyone operating on patients with the Maryland licenses and insurance. Three of the operators were associate members operating for the first time and they advanced to active membership status. Congratulations to: Dr. Hesham Farag, Dr. Stephanie Price, and Dr. Jessica Traude in your advancement to active membership.
4. For the first time we organized a short two-day course on direct and cast gold. We had 8 participants, two were already AAGFO members and the others applied for membership after the course. Welcome to Drs. Golden Broughton, James Cleary, Molly-Emma Jones, Ashley Karczewski, Kyle O’Donnell, and Skylar Snowden as new associate members in the Academy.
5. To top off the year, just before the annual meeting we were approached by a member of the ARVTSC who lives in Montana. He put us in contact with an instrument manufacturer there who is interested in discussing producing a basic instrument kit.

This past year has been a great year, and we have much to look forward to in the year to come.

We have only just begun. I look forward to seeing everyone in the new year. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making 2024 a remarkable year.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Thorburn

AAGFO President 2024

To my dear colleagues, greetings.

Summer is officially here June 20th; hope you have a great one. Before we know it, the summer holidays
will be over and the schools will be back in session.

With the autumn comes the Annual Meeting. Our executive has been working making all the arrangements. As you have heard in the last email our meeting is being held in a suburb of Washington DC in the Bethesda/Chevy Chase area at the Courtyard by Marriott Chevy Chase. The dates are October 23-26, 2024. Check the new Academy website for more details.At that time of the year the weather can be clear with the trees ablaze in autumn colours. We are past the tourist season so Washington will not be as crowded. You could arrive early and spend time in
Washington seeing the sites and museums.

We have compressed the scientific components into the first half of the meeting, giving you a bit more time in the second half to see things of interest. Thursday has lectures by renowned local specialists in the morning and the clinical session in the afternoon across the street at Dr. Morrison’s office. Friday has a long lecture in the morning by Dr. Terry Donovan followed by the review of the clinical session from the previous afternoon. The lecture series will be posted on the website soon. That compression gives you Friday afternoon and all of Saturday before the Gala to see things of interest in Washington. The evening arrangements will follow the past with a welcoming reception on Wednesday evening. On
Thursday night is the dine around where reservations are made at a number of restaurants and attendees sign up for which restaurant you wish to eat at. Friday night will have all attendees dining together in one restaurant, and of course all of us will gather for the Gala dinner on Saturday evening. All the restaurants will be close to the hotel.

The clinical operations will be held in the office of Dr. Eric Morrison, our Academy Secretary. His office is just across the street from the hotel. Operations can be performed on patients of Dr. Morrison but licensing and insurance is required, otherwise operations will be on dentoforms in mannequin heads. Please contact Dr. Morrison if you wish to operate in either fashion, he can provide you with all the information.
It will be a great meeting. Register early and make your plans. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

David Thorburn, AAGFO President

My dear colleagues,

Here we are in late spring. How the time passes when you are busy. Let’s start with the most important part of this email blast.

Our Annual Meeting will be held in Washington DC, October 23-26, 2024. It is in a suburb of Washington, Bethesda/Chevy Chase. We have set aside a room block in the Courtyard Marriott Bethesda Chevy Chase, 5520 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815, telephone # (301) 656-1500. This hotel will host most of the regular functions of the meeting: executive council meeting, opening reception, lectures, and clinic review. The dine around, all attendee’s dinner and Awards Gala will be hosted in local restaurants.

The Scientific Session committee chaired by Dr. David Bridgeman has put together a fantastic lecture series. Three local Washington DC specialists will be presenting lectures on the Thursday morning. Dr. Terry Donovan will give a long presentation on Friday morning followed by the clinic review from the previous day’s clinical session.

The Clinical Session will be held in the office of Dr. Eric Morrison, our Academy Secretary. His office is two blocks away from the hotel. Things will be a little different than our past session. We have room for 8 operators. There will be more information being sent out about this session in the near future. Any associate members should consider operating at this session so you can move from associate to active membership status. When you receive the information on the clinical session you will understand why I suggest operating at this meeting.

You may recall in the fall of 2023 after the Seattle meeting, I sent an email saying our Academy had been approached by the Academy of Richard V Tucker Study Clubs (ARVTSC) to enter a discussion of whether a merger of the two groups may be advantageous. That discussion was held and concluded with the two Academies deciding to work in closer association to promote the use of cast and direct gold.

This year there is a “Short Course” on cast and direct gold being presented parallel to our meeting in Washington. The course can accommodate 16 participants. We have 7 dentists registered already. If you are interested or know a colleague who might benefit from the course, invite them to look at the course information (announcement included). If they are interested contact Dr. Morrison. It will be a great little course.

Looking further into the future the 2025 Annual Meeting of the AAGFO will be a joint meeting of the AAGFO and the ARVTSC. It will be held in Gainesville, Florida in the fall of 2025. The dates have not been set yet. We plan to present a 2 or 3 day course on gold foil directed towards the Tucker members and our members who haven’t had the opportunity to belong to a gold foil study club to learn more or brush up on their direct gold technique. More news on that in the future.

We have been redesigning the website. It will have more focus on the clinical side of direct gold as well as broader information on our meetings and other events. It is hoped to be launched in early June. Check it out at aagfo.org.

One last point. Our Annual Meeting is open to guests. Please mention to any colleagues, especially young dentists, that this would be a great meeting to attend and be introduced to the concepts of direct and cast gold restorations. That might lead to them attending courses as well as considering joining the Academy.

Keep checking in on the new website. Have a great summer, put October 23-26, 2024 on your calendar. I look forward to seeing you in Washington in the fall.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Thorburn

President AAGFO