Welcome to The Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists!​

The Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists (GLAO) is a constituent of the American Association of Orthodontists.
Components of the GLAO include: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario (Canada), and Pennsylvania (west of the Alleghenies).
The GLAO advocates on behalf of its members and promotes the advancement of the Specialty of Orthodontics.




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A Message from The GLAO President...

AAO and GLAO Annual Sessions!

In early May, the AAO completed a successful Annual Session in Los Angeles, California with many doctors from the west coast and the Pacific region attending. There were hundreds of speakers and exhibits but only a few could be absorbed in the short four day period. However, some very significant business was completed at the House of Delegates. Our own Dr. Michael Sherman (ON) was accepted as the new GLAO Trustee and Dr. Chris Roberts (OH) was inducted into the office of AAO President-Elect. Congratulations to both!!  Dr. Dale Anne Featheringham Chaired the GLAO Delegation and during the Constituent caucuses and on the floor of the House, the auto-qualifier’s for “medically necessary orthodontic treatment” were finalized and accepted after 7 years of research, study, discussion and debate.  It is now onto the insurance industry and the federal government for appropriate implementation.  Next year’s AAO meeting will be in Atlanta, Georgia.

The GLAO is focused on having an annual session that is easy to attend with take home useful knowledge and skills. The 2019 GLAO Annual Session will be on September 12-15^th on our side of the country with easy and affordable arrangements.  Many of our members went to California but many have decided to keep it simpler and go to the GLAO Annual Session in September. The GLAO meeting will be very affordable for doctors, families and team members (staff). We have negotiated nearly half-price off on room rates at the Marriott Fort Lauderdale Harbor Beach Resort for only $149 per night with free internet and the $35/night resort fee is waived (better than Motel 6!). Child-care for ages 4-12 with supervised activities is available on-site for $30 for ½ day.  We checked airfares in September and they range from $224-$460 for a round-trip direct flights to Ft. Lauderdale from all the major cities within our region (Delta in Detroit was lowest at $224).

The GLAO is following up on prior resort meeting formats and vendor/doctor suggestions and surverys to create a meeting that will be satisfying for our doctors, staff and vendors alike. Please plan on placing your purchasing orders at that meeting to make it worth the vendor’s time. On Friday, Dr. Doug DePew (Trapezio) will be leading the hands-on clinical training for orthodontic assistants including digital camera use, appliance light wire bending and recognition (a Bird-Beak and Three-Prong plier are required) and cephalometric radiograph landmark familiarization and identification with hand-outs for future reference.  The doctor sessions will commence on Friday with an overview of the Orthodontic Specialty in the 21^st century with Dr. Mark Hans, Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Dr. Martin Palomo and an Esthetic Guide for Canine Substitution with Dr. Neal Kravitz. Saturday morning is a joint session with an introduction to digital in-office 3-D Technology and Printing with Dr. Christian Groth, and Office and Personal Cybersecurity with the renowned Mr. Steve McEvoy.  The business side of orthodontics will conclude the doctor and staff session on Sunday with Mr. Craig Feinberg.

The program format will follow the proven resort model with topics in the mornings and activities in the afternoon. We will have a Friday night complimentary Welcome Reception and Saturday night Beach Barbeque event with live entertainment.  Many vendors will have pool-side cabanas for refreshments, education and entertaining. Please make your hotel reservations soon to receive the group rate. You can get more information and register soon on our website! Looking forward to seeing everyone in Fort Lauderdale!!