Dental News - Interview: “It is our intention to make this congress a turning point”

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 24. September 2018

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From 1 to 3 October, the 16th World Congress in Laser Dentistry will be hosted in Aachen in Germany, giving international dental professionals the opportunity to network and learn about the latest developments in their field of expertise. While event preparations are still underway, Leon Vanweersch, a vice chairman of the organising committee, spoke to Dental Tribune Online about the event, being promoted as the largest ever, and about his commitment to laser education as both Business Development Manager at the Aachen Dental Laser Center (AALZ) and co-owner of the Academia Latinoamerica de Innovaciones en Odontoloģia (ALAIO) in Cartagena in Colombia.

Mr Vanweersch, this year’s World Congress in Laser Dentistry is expected to be the most successful, of the highest scientific level, and the biggest and most international World Federation for Laser Dentistry conference ever. What can attendees expect that they have not seen before?
First of all, it is our intention to make this congress a turning point in the set-up and structure of executing such congresses. This congress will integrate science and practical experience on different levels of presentations and demonstrations, including by highly rated international keynote speakers, on-stage live patient demonstrations, interactive digital poster presentations, oral presentations combined with relevant clinical skill training, short presentations on the latest research findings, outstanding clinical case presentations, company-supported workshops, and certificates for continuing education credits. We will have participants from all over the world travelling to Germany from 49 countries, such as Canada, Australia, China and Argentina. We will have more than 200 presentations spread over the three days in a huge programme. Also, our social events will certainly beat those of all past World Federation for Laser Dentistry congresses.

On the congress website, the chairman of the organising committee, Prof. Norbert Gutknecht, announced some nice surprises. Could you tell us a little more without giving away too much?
The surprises are meant to be a surprise, so I can’t say anything further about this, only that participants can expect novelties in the programme as well as in the social events.

You will be on stage introducing the programme. What are your personal programme highlights?
Besides the fact that I am proud to welcome so many international attendees, I am personally very happy and excited to welcome back so many Aachen graduates from our mastership and MSc courses all over the world, which makes this event also a kind of reunion of the AALZ–WALED [World Academy for Laser Education and Research in Dentistry] family. Besides the high scientific level of the plenary speakers we have secured for the congress, I am sure that the gala event will be an absolute highlight.

The congress is being held under the theme “Three decades of laser innovation”. What is the status of laser technology in international dentistry at present?
I personally think that every high-standard dental clinic today should have integrated laser or laser-assisted dentistry in their therapies, in order to claim to be innovative and state of the art.

Leon Vanweersch is a vice chairman of the organising committee of this year’s World Congress in Laser Dentistry hosted by the World Federation for Laser Dentistry. Dental Tribune International is an official media partner of the event.

Leon Vanweersch at an AALZ presentation in Argentina at the start of the 2018 mastership course in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Participants in the mastership programme hosted in Lebanon.

Mastership examination at the RWTH Aachen University Hospital.

Participants in the ALAIO diploma course in Santa Marta in Colombia.

How did you initially become involved with laser dentistry?
I started already in 1992, together with Prof. Gutknecht, whom you just mentioned, the first laser safety officer courses for dentists in Germany at RWTH Aachen University. Over the next few years, we started to offer laser workshops in Germany and later also internationally. From 1994 on, we additionally organised the national congress of the German Society of Laser Dentistry every year. Under the leadership of Prof. Gutknecht, we did many research projects for various laser companies. An absolute highlight was the worldwide initiation of the first Master of Science in Lasers in Dentistry programme at RWTH Aachen University in 2004. For many years, we have been organising one-year mastership courses in dental laser therapy in many countries worldwide, and have produced more than 1,000 laser dentists in the time at the AALZ.

You live in Vaals in the Netherlands but you also work in Cartagena. What projects have you initiated there?
Besides our mastership courses that we have been organising in Colombia for two years now, we have now started these courses in Argentina and last year in Mexico. I am now working on starting this programme in Brazil and in other countries in Latin America. With the ALAIO project, we want to offer dentists in Colombia and Latin America not only dental laser education, but also the highest quality workshops and certification courses in other innovative disciplines in dentistry. A future project will be the organisation of a yearly congress on the latest innovations in dentistry in Cartagena. It will be a unique combination of clinical workshops and social events.

Being so active in Latin American countries, what is your connection with this region and what are your experiences with the local dental community?
I first went to Colombia two years ago. I fell completely in love with the unique combination of culture, lifestyle and nature that this country has to offer. As I am now increasingly changing my working space to Cartagena in addition to my work in Aachen, I am working on the ALAIO project by offering the first diploma courses in aesthetic dentistry in various Colombian cities. Additionally, I am in negotiations with companies that would like to start doing business in Colombia or generally in Latin America. Of course, Latin America is still very price-sensitive; however, the dentists here are very open and interested in dental innovations, and this means that they are ready to invest. Also, Latin American dentists and patients want to have the highest scientific quality, and they are willing to pay for it when reasonable.

Where can interested dental professionals find more information on the congress and your courses?
The congress website can be accessed at www.wfld-aachen2018.com. Detailed information on the programmes can best be found on our websites www.aalz.de and www.alaiolatinoamerica.com or on the Facebook pages of the AALZ and ALAIO. The ALAIO also has an Instagram account named alaiolatinoamerica.

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