Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2022 - 23

Component Reports
Side Effects of OSA Treatment, " which discussed
issues relevant to orthodontists treating patients
who are also being managed for obstructive
sleep apnea.
During our AGM, we discussed a number of
important topics:
▫ Voting on our new component bylaws; membership
approved the new bylaws and was
also made aware of the updated policies and
procedures manual
▫ Adjusting our executive committee to four
members to align with our new bylaws (president,
secretary, director-at-large, and treasurer)
from our previous five-member structure
(past president, president, vice president,
secretary, and treasurer)
▫ Familiarizing our members with our newly
redesigned website
▫ Resuming the collection of dues from
members for the 2022 year; dues will now
be collected by the Canadian Association of
Orthodontists on our behalf
▫ Bestowing the Joe G. Ryan Distinguished Service
Award on our member Dr. Rick Odegaard
for his tireless work on organized dentistry in
Canada and advocacy during the COVID-19
pandemic
We hope that all of our colleagues in the PCSO are
healthy, and we look forward to connecting both
virtually and in person during the coming year.
Dr. Melanie Mattson
Secretary, Nelson, BC
California
The California Association of
Orthodontists (CAO) elected new
officers and directors who were
installed at our Leader Appreciation
Dinner on September 25, 2021. The new executive
team includes Dr. Bahar Ghafouri, president; Dr.
Harry Dougherty Jr., president-elect; Dr. Sheldon
Salins, secretary-treasurer; and Dr. Boyd Martin,
immediate past president. Dr. Damon Szymanowski
was elected as a new director to the CAO board.
Directors continuing their terms on the board
are Drs. Anita Bhavnani-Rathod, Sam Berro, Rita
Chuang, Jeffrey Kwong, Mark Rashidi, and Chris
Roncone. At the dinner, we also presented Dr. Bob
Meister with the Distinguished Service Award and
presented the Award of Merit to Assemblyman
Evan Low. It was wonderful to be together in person
with COVID-19 mitigation strategies in place.
The lobbying firm CAO retained earlier this year
has been very helpful in raising the CAO profile
in the state legislature. With leadership from the
legislative committee, CAO took positions on several
bills this legislative session and provided support
letters and floor alerts whenever these bills
were heard in committee or on the floor. We have
trained members as advocates in the legislative
process and held several Zoom meetings with key
legislators involving these members to provide
critical constituent viewpoints and share CAO
member concerns. Our efforts at data collection
relating to adverse outcomes from direct-to-consumer
treatment without proper diagnosis and/
or oversight are ongoing. We have plans to build
on all of these efforts in the coming year.
The strategic planning committee put together
a vetting process for vendors who approach CAO
about partnership/advertising opportunities
and began offering limited opportunities in the
spring. To date, three new advertising partners
have been approved and have taken advantage of
the available marketing options.
Our CE committee put together a half-day
seminar on laser gingival contouring that was
held on September 24, 2021, in Anaheim and
provided three hours of CE credit. We had 76
registrants, including doctors, staff, and residents.
We received a PCSO education grant, which was
put to good use in providing the highly acclaimed
presenter, Dr. Stuart Frost. The committee is beginning
work on a three-part webinar series that
will be presented in the coming year.
Our communications committee, with input
from orthodontic and academic leaders throughout
the state, has developed a standard-of-care
recommendation for the minimal records needed
to start orthodontic treatment. We are finalizing
the draft and the process for its roll out. The
Winter 2022 PCSO Bulletin
23
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2022
