Sones concludes term as president of Academy of Osseointegration

Dr. Amerian Sones, director of dental oncology in the Center for Maxillofacial Prosthodontics and director of Continuing Education at Texas A&M School of Dentistry, recently completed her term as president of the Academy of Osseointegration, an international organization dedicated to the education and advancement of the field of dental implants.

Sones said she has been part of the academy since the 1990s, working her way up from committee positions to president.

“After 30 years of committee work and service, the presidency position has been well worth the hard work, to collaborate with such esteemed colleagues,” she said. “It means a lot to me. It’s heartwarming because I’ve served on so many committees, and I started at the bottom level. This is being part of organized dentistry and working on a mission and with other people, trying to accomplish certain things.”

During her time as president, Sones helped promote the Global University Task Force, with the goal of producing webinars for students and faculty to utilize and earn continuing education credits. She also helped start a new “Emerging Leaders – 6 under 10” competition. Participants with 10 years of experience or less in the dental field are chosen to make a 6-minute presentation on a clinical case at the association’s annual meeting.

“We had 20 applicants with outstanding cases and selected six to compete,” Sones said.

Another highlight from Sones’ term was the implementation of the AO Educational and Research Naming Fund.

“The fund requires a $100,000 contribution and provides new AO programs and research opportunities named after the individual making the contribution,” she said. “Four members have contributed to date.”

Sones’ final act as president was presiding over the academy’s annual meeting March 16-18 in Phoenix.  The meeting featured surgical and restorative tracks, hands-on programs for advanced dental implant education and a keynote address from Dr. Rickard Branemark.

Sones will serve on the academy’s board for another year as immediate past president and will continue to serve on other committees within the academy.