EDITORIAL

The American Association of Orthodontists Foundation: Purposes and objectives

0 ne of the major projects of the American Association of Orthodon- tists is known informally as the A. A. 0. Foundation. It was created by the Association so that orthodontics could more effectively meet its responsibilities

t'o the public and to the profession of which it is a part. Although it is one of the more recent of the Association’s activities, the Foundation has already played a substantial but unpublicized role in professional affairs, and its influence will continue to increase in the years to come.

In great part, the Foundation operates by providing grants for four specific purposes : (I) encouraging continuing education programs for the dental pro- fession, (2) promoting research in orthodontics and related scholastic areas, (3) extending formal orthodontic education at the academic level, and (4) pro- viding orthodontic information, education, and welfare in the public interest.

With limited means at its disposal, the Foundation has fulfilled its objectives beyond the expectations it had when it was organized in 1961. Of major impor- tance are two conferences on orthodontic education that the Foundation spon- sored in 1966 and 1.967. These conferences were conducted by the Council on Orthodont,ic Education, and the attendance at each exceeded 100 orthodontic educators from American and Canadian dental schools. One of the conferences was on graduate and postgraduate orthodontic programs and the other was on undergraduate education. The fact that. dentistry and orthodontics have bene- fited from these conferences can be seen in the increases in undergraduate and advanced orthodontic programs in the dental schools and in the continuing c&cation courses currently being presented for general dentists as well as for orthodont.ists.

The Foundation has also sponsored two orthodontic public health projects, and it, has made substantial contributions to the American Fund for Dental Education. In 1968 it provided grants of $100.00 to each of the orthodontic departments in American and Canadian dental schools. This may seem moderate; yet, until recently, grants from the AF’DE to the dental schools averaged $1, 000.00 annually, and this had to bc spread among the ten to twelve academic departments maintained by most of the schools, If each of the seven other recog- nizcd dental specialities did as well as orthodontics, specialty organizations would be contributing $800.00 a year to each school for the advancement of dental education.

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Other orthodontic services that could benefit from Foundation grants are in public health education programs, continuing education courses, audio-visual sequences, orthodontic technical investigations, and library extension to include such services as serving as a central depository for orthodontic theses ancl aca- demic research. The principal limitation centers around finances. The goal is to develop an endowment fund that will assure continued excellence in orthodontic teaching, treatment, and research for the ultimate benefit of the individual patient.

In order to reach its goals, the Foundation depends for the most part on contributions from individual members of the Association. In 1965 the Founda- tion was granted tax-exempt status under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. Contributions to tax-free Foundations are thus tax deductible, and this should be taken into considerat,ion when one considers the nature and extent of gifts to the A. A. 0. Foundation. Since the Foundation is an independent and separat,e operating entity, gifts should be addressed directly to the American Association of Ortho- dontists Foundation, 7477 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri 63103.

Memorial donations to t,he Foundation also constit,ute an appropriate re- membrance for deceased persons. Bequests in wills is another effective means of contributing to the Foundation, since important tax savings can result. In all cases, suitable appreciation cards are sent by the Foundation to the appropriate persons and organizations.

Among the current sources of income for the Foundation are gifts from the eight constituent societies of the Association. A few state and local orthodontic organizations are also contributin g on an annual basis. This financial support has been a welcome addition to the Foundation’s resources, but it also needs the strong support of every Association member if it is to reach its full potential a,s an effective agency of the specialty.

B. P. D.