San Diego. IADR/AADR/CADR closed on Saturday, the 18th of March 2011, with fanfare provided by a Brazilian dance troop. This was a perfect ending to an enlightening three days of research presentations and symposium delivered by dental researchers from around the world.
However, it is unfortunate that there was a complete lack of scientific research encompassing radiology. In fact, this Editor was able to find only 1 of 4000 abstracts concerned dental imaging (which was reviewed in the IADR section). Some of the posters and verbal presentations included imaging as a component of the methodology, but that was it.
There were no abstracts concerning the many new radiology acquisition devices (e.g. CBCT machines, Digital sensors, developers, etc.) or imaging techniques and software for that matter. There were no abstracts concerning PACS (picture archiving and communication systems), the cloud as it is currently applied in dentistry, teledentistry, or the use of digital communication in Dentistry for distance evaluation of patients or dental education, or the use of DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) in academic centers.
Given the worldwide community health applications and implications of these imaging topics, the esteemed nature of this research event, and the fact that Radiology is a recognized specialty in Dentistry within the USA and elsewhere, it just seems strange that studies in this arena were so incredibly underrepresented at the 2011 conference. The Dental Hub encourages the planning committee of the next conference to include Radiology in its symposium and general research heading so that Dentists and other allied healthcare clinicians and researchers involved in dental imaging can contribute to the scientific discourse.
