Dental News - Meeting review: 2020 Rocky Mountain Dental Convention in Denver

Robert Selleck (DTA)

Mon. 27 January 2020

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DENVER, Colo., USA: Attendees were able to earn up to 18 hours of C.E. credit at the 112th annual Rocky Mountain Dental Convention, held from Jan. 23–25 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The largest continuing education event for dental professionals in the region, the gathering attracts attendees from throughout Colorado and neighboring states.

This year’s event featured nationally-recognized speakers such as Dr. Newton Fahl, Dr. Jeff Brucia, Dr. David Clark, Prof. Karen Baker, Dr. Stephen Chu, Dr. Seena Patel Dr. Anne Koch, Betsy Reynolds and Dr. Bobbi Birdi. Additionally, the event’s three-day Expo Hall featured more than 300 booths showcasing some of the latest advancements in dentistry.

Showing the way to hands-on education, the public-art installment popularly known as the “Blue Bear” serves as the iconic landmark designating the entrance to the Colorado Convention Center.

From left, in the “Bioclear Matrix Systems by Dr. David Clark” booth, Dee Dee Handy with Bioclear Matrix helps Dr. Katy McClure of Westminster, Colo., as Dr. Kristina Eidson, also of Westminster, looks on.

From left in the Designs for vision booth are Tom Lartonoix and Mike Zapf.

From left, in the Tokuyma Dental America booth, Sayuri Viveros and Anna Mai are offering boxes of Omnichroma with a buy-one-get-one-free special. The product is the world’s first dental composite that matches every tooth with a single composite shade.

In the Myofunctional Research booth with examples of the Myobrace appliance system are Andrei Kovacs and Nancy Gomez.

"Root Canal Rock Stars" in the EdgeEndo booth are from left, Allyson Sandoval and Juliet Bates.

Throughout the three days of exhibits, the Crown Seating booth had a steady stream of dental professionals checking out the company’s selection of ergonomic, pain-relieving seating.

Kelli Souci, dental hygiene student in second-year of school at Central Community College in Hastings, Neb., shows off the flair she added to her RMDC badge.

Attendees play the World’s Largest Pac-Man in the ’80 Arcade area sponsored by Peebles Prosthetics.

On “The Summit CE & Demo Stage” on Thursday morning, dental-practice-marketing-expert Patrick Chavoustie, founder of Omni Premier Marketing, presents “Developing a Successful Marketing Strategy.”

From Central Community College in Hastings, Neb., second-year dental-hygiene student Ally Kort starts on her next giant-Jenga move in Friday’s first-place playoff in the Southtowne Technologies booth. To the right from Southtowne Technologies are Seth Atherton and company founder Todd Sutton, DDS. Sutton, who also has two dental practices in Lander and Dubois, Wyo., after creating and fine-tuning a dental billing service for his practices, helps other practices benefit from his system. The company specializes in securing accounts receivable and communicating effectively with insurance companies to obtain maximum reimbursement.

Displaying their Jenga-competition winnings in the Southtowne Technologies booth are from left, second-year dental-hygiene students from Nebraska Ally Kort, Morgan Schoening, Claire Snyder, Kelli Soucie (with Seth Atherton of Southtowne Technologies) and Hannah Tomes.

Some of Team Peebles in the company’s hard-to-miss jackets, line up in the main Peebles Prosthetics booth. The Peebles booth is always one of the convention’s busiest throughout all three days of the Expo Hall.

From left, in the Peebles Prosthetics booth, from Salud Family Health in Commerce City, Colo., are Perla Puentes, Mariela Santos-Castanon, Camilla Tavares and Maria Chavez (holding the bobble head of Peebles founder Rick Peebles). Peebles Prosthetics has been serving Denver area dental practices for 35 years and exhibiting at The RMDC for 15 years.

Not visible, Ross Beaudette, in the Paradise Dental Technologies (PDT) booth, helps attendees interested in the Montana-based company’s extensive line of instruments.

In the Expo Hall’s lawn-games area, sponsored by Peebles Prosthetics, Jill Wigle, facing camera, tosses a bean bag as Trisha Cashmore awaits her turn. Both are chairside assistants with Copeland Family Dental in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Corey Puckett and Alaina Reef of HelloFresh. Pick your number of people and number of recipes per week and have fresh, locally-sourced, pre-measured ingredients delivered to your door.

Robert Schmidt of Healthtec Industries displays a FIT 888 cordless percussive massager, one of several variations of the device being offered for sale in the Expo Hall.

The test-stations in the Designs for vision booth were frequently filled with dentists and hygienists checking out the selection of ultralight and ultra-bright loupes and headlights.

From left, displaying the innovative DentalVibe device for painless anesthetic injections, are Katie Smith and Vito Verzura.

From left, Daisy The Dragon and Dental Assistant Yoselin Avila, wandered the Expo Hall aisles handing out Children’s Dentistry stickers to promote the pediatric dentistry practice in Westminster, Colo.

Looking across the west Denver metro area from the Colorado Convention Center to the snow-covered peaks of the state's Front Range — just outside of the RMDC Expo Hall on Friday evening.

Same time, same place next year: The 2021 Rocky Mountain Dental Convention is scheduled for Jan. 21–23.

In addition to featuring a wide assortment of company and organizational booths, this year’s RMDC Expo Hall also featured an ‘80s Arcade with classic pinball machines and video-based games such as Pac Man, Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Centipede. There also was a Lawn Games area with a bean-bag throw, giant Jenga, Connect-4 and other games more typically found outdoor. The arcade and lawn games were sponsored by Peebles Prosthetics.

The Expo Hall is also known for its afternoon happy hours with complimentary beer and wine for as long as supplies last as closing time approaches during each of the first two days of exhibits.

Also in the Expo Hall this year was the return of the popular “The Summit: CE & Demo Stage,” sponsored by Carr Healthcare Realty. The Summit stage enabled attendees to earn C.E. credit without leaving the Expo Hall by listening to one-hour sessions that focused on topics in marketing, real estate, digital dentistry, compliance and other areas.

The convention is presented by the Metro Denver Dental Society (MDDS), a not-for-profit component society of the American Dental Association and the Colorado Dental Association, representing more than 1,900 dentists in the Denver metro area.

About the MDDS
Founded in 1897, the MDDS is a professional association devoted to the advancement of the dental profession and oral health awareness. It provides educational opportunities, promotes ethical standards of practice and advocates for the health of local communities. The association’s member dentists represent more than 70 percent of all the licensed dentists in the metro Denver area. Members endeavor to improve the well-being of all individuals by promoting optimal, lifelong oral health in metro Denver.

Among the benefits provided to MDDS members are continuing education, legislative liaison, peer-review and patient-relations programs, community service programs, inter-professional and public relations, insurance benefits, financial and legal services, a staff referral service, a professional library and subscriptions to local, state and national dental publications.

(Sources: Metro Denver Dental Society/Rocky Mountain Dental Convention)