ABOUT US
THE AARD
The American Academy of Restorative Dentistry was established in 1928. Active membership in the Academy is limited to 165 general dentists and dental specialists. Members and guests meet annually in February for a two-day scientific session in Chicago, IL. The objectives of the Academy are to promote the improvement of the health of the public, and the quality of the art and science of restorative dentistry. As such, lecturers are required, when appropriate, to offer significantly valid evidence and sound scientific basis for all concepts presented.
The scientific session is composed of six 1-hour lectures (essays) on Saturday, nine 20-minute lectures (projected clinics) on Sunday morning, and 16-20 table clinics on Sunday afternoon. There is a question-and-answer period following each presentation on Saturday. Content of the annual program encompasses all aspects of “restorative dentistry,” including, but not limited to, topics in general dentistry, prosthodontics, periodontics, orthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, pediatric dentistry, sleep disordered breathing, dental radiology, oral medicine, dental implants, dental laboratory science, and temporomandibular function/dysfunction.
Guest attendance at annual meetings is by invitation only. Meeting publicity is limited to announcement of the meeting dates in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry and a letter of invitation provided to each guest. Exhibits and/or vendors are strictly prohibited at all times.
ABOUT AARD
OUR HISTORY
Our organization, now known as The American Academy of Restorative Dentistry, came into being on August 17, 1921, at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the time of the meeting of the National Dental Association, presently the American Dental Association. Eleven men, being interested in the organization of a Porcelain Section of the National Dental Association, met to organize and to elect temporary officers; to appoint a committee to draft a Constitution and Bylaws; and to select a suitable name for the organization. A committee was also appointed “to wait on the Board of Trustees of the National Dental Association, to ask of, and advise with them as to whether we can have permission to form a separate Section of the National Dental Association to be known as the Porcelain Section.” Among other things it was decided that all new members were to be selected by invitation only and that a two- thirds vote of the membership be necessary for the candidates’ election. A temporary fee of five dollars was levied on each member present to take care of all incidental expenses of the infant organization. A committee was further appointed to prepare a clinical program for the 1922 meeting of the National Dental Association at Los Angeles, California. The first meeting was then adjourned.
At subsequent meetings of the newly established “American Society of Dental Ceramics,” broadening the scope of the Society to include more general restorative procedures as well as ceramics was frequently discussed and finally realized, when the society was eventually reorganized and renamed “The American Academy of Restorative Dentistry.” In December 1927, one of the members of the American Society of Dental Ceramics, Dr. T.W. Maves, wrote letters to some fifty-three outstanding dentists throughout the country explaining the idea of an organization for restorative dentistry and requesting that they signify their interest in such an organization.
Enthusiastic answers were received from most of the men. A meeting of twenty men, who had signified their interest in such an organization, was called to order by the temporary chairman, Dr. T.W. Maves, on January 25, 1928, at the Drake Hotel, Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Maves outlined the purpose for calling the meeting and expressed the wish that those present could feel the same need for such an organization. Such assurance was given by several and seconded by all. Officers were then elected; and the new organization, having been duly brought into existence, was then named “The American Academy of Restorative Dentistry.” The first Academy Council, as we know it today, was then formed. Initiation fees and dues were decided upon and the first meeting of the Academy, as such, adjourned.
