Spear Faculty Showcase Interdisciplinary Collaboration at Two European Conferences

Spear Resident Faculty members Drs. Greggory Kinzer and Jim Janakievski, along with world-renowned orthodontist Dr. Vincent Kokich Jr., recently shared their expertise with working together as an interdisciplinary team to treat patients during both the European Association for Osseointegration Annual Congress in Berlin and the Congress of the Czech Orthodontic Society in Prague in October.

“The goal of both of our presentations was to illustrate how to work together as an interdisciplinary team. Since the only two specialties that are recognized in Europe are orthodontics and oral surgery, most clinicians do all the treatment themselves (restorative as well as surgery), so our way of practicing as a team is somewhat unique to them,” stated Dr. Kinzer. “They want to see how we treatment-plan, sequence, and treat patients as a team, with each of us treating within our discipline.”

The trio were among the only invited speakers outside of the Czech Republic at the Congress of the Czech Orthodontic Society. The event is the largest orthodontic meeting in the Czech Republic and was attended by 650 clinicians, most of whom were orthodontists.

The European Association for Osseointegration meeting is the largest implant meeting in Europe and was attended by more than 6,000 people. Drs. Kinzer, Janakievski, and Kokich were the closing presentation for the meeting with the topic Interdisciplinary Collaboration to Optimize Treatment Outcomes. They also did a live treatment planning session for a patient at the event.

“Presenting in Europe is always so much fun,” Dr. Kinzer said. “The people are great and are wonderful hosts. They truly value having us present to see how we evaluate, treatment plan and treat our patients. There are also so many smart and talented clinicians, we always learn something as well.”

Dr. Kinzer, Spear’s Faculty Chair and Chief Curriculum and Campus Education Officer, also leads a number of in-person workshop, seminars and online courses. Dr. Janakievski teaches on the Spear Campus in Scottsdale, Arizona, and in a number of virtual and online courses.