International Association of Dental Traumatology (IADT)

The International Association of Dental Traumatology (IADT) is a global association bringing together from all over dental the world general dentists, specialists, and others who are interested in dental traumatology. The mission is to promote optimal prevention and treatment services in this multidisciplinary area in dentistry. The target groups are dental and medical colleagues, the public and interested parties in education, sports, industry and appropriate governmental agencies. 

It all began in 1984. Drs. Jim Gutmann and Jack Harrison of the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) organized then first World Congress on Dental Traumatology in Dallas, Texas. Sponsored by the AAE Foundation it attracted speakers and participants from many parts of the world, and sparked a growing interest in dental traumatology.

The initiative to form an international association was taken by a group of active Scandinavian trauma researchers and clinicians in a dental trauma conference aboard a ship between Stockholm and Helsinki in 1988 under the leadership of Dr. Jens Ove Andreasen. That initiative resulted in a second World Congress held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1989, with international participants, at which meeting the International Association of Dental Traumatology was formed.  Dr. Andreasen was elected president, a position he held for the next 12 years. He has played an important role in promoting the objectives of the IADT: Research, education, and public awareness.

During the next  decade the  IADT sponsored 9 World Congresses in various locations: Denmark (1991), England (1993), USA (1994), Japan (1995), Italy (1996), Brazil (1997), Israel (1998), Australia (1999) and Oslo (2000) with programs featuring international speakers and research reports that have stimulated the interest in dental traumatology worldwide.  

In 2001 the IADT World Congress was held in Boston, USA in cooperation with the Academy for Sports Dentistry – the first time a combined meeting was done. It started a collaborative effort between the two organizations, both of which uses Dental Traumatology as their official publication. Dr. Martin Trope was instrumental in coordinating the combined effort with the Sports Dentistry group and also arranged for subscription to the journal to be part of membership dues. Both accomplishments further promoted the growth of the IADT. Dr. Trope also served as president from 2001-2003.

The next meetings in the new millennium were held in Chile (2003) and Iceland (2005). Dr. Marie Therese Flores served as president from 2003 through 2006. Dr. Flores presidency was highlighted by her successful inauguration of IADT’s website and the successful completion and dissemination of the dental trauma guidelines – considered the authoritative source for treatment information.

Dr. Asgeir Sigurdsson served as president from 2007-2008. During his presidency IADT continued to grow and develop as an international organization and Dr. Sigurdsson was active in further developing the web page and the organization. The office of executive director was established to manage the day-to-day business of the Association.  Dr. Leif K. Bakland was appointed by the Board of Directors to serve in this position and under his leadership the IADT has further developed to a professional association by managing administrative issues through the central office.

Dr.  Mitsuhiro Tsukiboshi was president during the years 2009-2010 and the IADT continued to grow to 500 members world-wide. During this period the interactive program Dental Trauma Guide was launched by Dr. Andreasen’s research group in Copenhagen. This is an interactive tool where anyone in the world who has access to internet can get immediate information on diagnosis and treatment for individual dental trauma cases. This is a gift to the world and is financed by funding and sponsoring. Dr. Tsukiboshi, through a very generous contribution, established the Jens Ove Andreasen- Mitsuhiro Tsukiboshi Fund that will help provide the basis for continued financing and development of this program.

For more than two decades, the IADT has been the supporting professional association of the Medline indexed scientific journal Dental Traumatology, which is the only scientific journal solely covering the full scope of dental traumatology. The journal was founded by Dr. Leif Tronstad in 1985 as Endodontics and Dental Traumatology. The name was changed to Dental Traumatology by the second Editor in Chief Martin Trope to attract a more multi-disciplinary interest group. The Academy of Sports Dentistry joined the IADT as a supporting professional organization. The current IADT president Lars Andersson is Editor in Chief for this journal and Dental Traumatology has in recent years further developed into a modern scientific journal with online submission and review process and its impact factor and the number of downloads have increased considerably worldwide.
There are many advantages to be a member of IADT.

• Members with an interest  in traumatology are part of a global community and can keep themselves updated as well as taking a leading role by conveying trauma knowledge and awareness to colleagues and the public their countries.
• Members can enjoy the scientific journal Dental Traumatology in which the latest research in the field of traumatology is published. Dental Traumatology is a Medline indexed scientific world journal and the only journal with focus on dental traumatology.
• IADT’s International Treatment Guidelines is the internationally recognized standard for treatment of traumatic injuries to teeth. These are regularly updated according to evidence based research and clinical experience by a committee of multidisciplinary experts. The Guidelines can be found on the IADT web page www.iadt-dentaltrauma.org and can be freely downloaded.
• The IADT is sponsors biennial world congresses and regional symposiums where members can update themselves in traumatology. Such events are published on the IADT web site.
• Members are eligible for discount on trauma books and manuals published by Wiley-Blackwell.
• Members can download information material for their patients.
• The IADT can also, through an international network, help with scientific arrangements and provide lecturers should anyone want to arrange a local course activity in traumatology in a country.
• The latest supported development is the Dental Trauma Guide – a web interactive guide to diagnosis and treatment. This is a great gift to the world where clinicians, wherever they are in the world with access to Internet, can enter information on a traumatic injury and get treatment suggestions and prognosis for the individual case.
• Another example of a possible future development which has been discussed is to develop a Fellowship program in Dental Traumatology for our members.

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Dr. Lars Anderson
IADT