Welcome to The Great Lakes Association of Orthodontists!

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

A Message from The GLAO President...
 

Greetings GLAO Family,

I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to serve as the GLAO President for 2024-2025. I follow a long line of outstanding GLAO volunteer-leaders, from whom I have learned so much. I look forward to serving our organization and profession over the next year, and hosting our annual session in Grand Rapids, September 18-20, 2025.  I would like to thank our Past-President, Dr. Kelton Stewart, for his leadership and dedication to our organization. He worked tirelessly this last year through many impactful issues and finished the year with a stimulating and informative combined annual session in St. Thomas, VI.   It was so great to relax and learn with many of you at this incredible event. During the Annual session, Dr. Stewart received the GLAO President's award and Dr. Dale Anne Featheringham received the 2024 GLAO Distinguished Service Award. 

Stay informed. Look to your email for the GLAO E-News and for invitations to join our informative and informal GLAO Coffee Chats held on Saturday mornings four times a year. Our chats have been very informative and well-received by the membership. Our most recent GLAO Coffee Chat featured Dr. Jashleen Bedi, who provided updates about the 2024 National Orthodontic Health Month and AAO Bullying Bites Campaign.

Your GLAO board was busy this year updating our strategic plan working to ensure our mission and direction align with our members' needs and the AAO priorities. We have made it more practical and added measurable outcome assessments, so we can better serve our members. The GLAO's updated strategic plan can be viewed on our website.

A number of our GLAO leaders have been busy this year with some unexpected changes at the State Dental Board level. In some of our states, talks of removing language that defines a dental specialist threatens to allow virtually any dentist to advertise as a specialist.  These challenges are being addressed by our AAO legal team and GLAO leadership. Get involved! Stay current with your state AAO leadership, and speak up to have your voice heard by the state dental boards.

I look forward to serving you and our profession this year. Please reach out to me or any of your GLAO leaders with suggestions of how we can better support you, your practice, and your AAO.

I wish you all a meaningful and wonderful holiday season.

Warmest Regards,

Scott O. Schulz, DDS, MS
GLAO President