Message From The President
Dear Colleagues,
"A dentist must voluntarily embark upon a substantial level of education, not only to become proficient using the laser, but to make an informed decision about the best type of laser for the practice. For example, just because a particular laser is FDA-approved for a particular procedure doesn't necessarily mean that it is the best laser for that procedure. The dentist needs to be educated about laser physics and laser tissue interaction in addition to mastering the procedural skills. An informed purchaser will definitely reap the proven clinical and financial benefits of laser dentistry."
The AALD has been formed to provide this education platform and a forum for laser users in general to meet, discuss and provide direction to regulators and professional associations regarding laser use, tapping into the wealth of knowledge our members have already at their disposal.
The AALD in its short life has successfully lobbied the ADAQ, the Dental Board of Queensland, and Radiation Health Queensland to bring about a change in the Radiation Safety Act to allow hygienists and therapists to use class 4 lasers for procedures limited to the scope of their training under the direction of a dentist. With the moves to national registration from 1 July 2010, we hope this will be provide a template which can be adopted at the national level.
I wish to thank once again the inaugural sponsors of the Society for their generosity and belief in the laser dentistry community: Henry Schien Halas, High Tech Laser Australia , Gunz, Inline , Innovative Dental Technology, and Investec.
We must now build on the platform created at our inaugural AALD conference and coordinate our meetings and courses on a national level. For those of you who are not yet members I invite you to join us in building a high-quality laser dentistry community in Australia.
Dr David Cox
President
Australian Association for Laser Dentistry
For information on membership please click here.