Written By: Dr. Bolormaa Sainbayar
International Liaison Officer Mongolian Association of Orthodontists (MoAO)
It was an honour for both myself and Dr. Garbunged Ganjargal, Vice President of Mongolian Association of Orthodontists (MoAO) to attend the APOS AGM and AOSC in Singapore. We were invited to introduce and to represent our country to present MoAO in the hope of joining APOS as an Affiliate Society.
Mongolia is a nomadic cultural country with a population of almost 3million. MoAO was founded in 2002 by Dr. Tsolmon Jadamba who has dedicated 30 years of her life to help many dental students pursue a career in Orthodontics. MoAO currently consists of 125 orthodontists with majority working in private clinics.
The Orthodontic resident program in Mongolia was officially accredited in 2008 and since then, the number of graduates increases rapidly. This year alone, there are 53 orthodontic residents and a total of 15 orthodontic graduates annually. This number is still insufficient as the prevalence of malocclusion in Mongolia remains high at 80%. Furthermore, there is only one public and three private schools of Dentistry in our country.
To manage such increasing demands in orthodontics, MoAO plays an important role in ensuring equal distribution of orthodontic treatment amongst the public. MoAO works hard to continues to provide support to our fellow orthodontists and promote the Orthodontic Specialty. We have held 3 National and 3 International congresses and scientific events and will plan for more in the years to come.
On 24th February 2019, it was with tremendous pride that MoAO was accepted as the 20th Affiliate member of the APOS. We experienced great hospitality and a very warm welcome from the APOS ECMs and the organizing team of AOSC and thus, would like to thank everyone for their support.
As the youngest member of APOS family, MoAO would like to invite all orthodontists to the forthcoming MoAO Congress, which will be held in August, 2019 in Terelj, Mongolia. Please /visit www.mao.mn/ for more information about our association, activities, achievements as well as many attractions of our country for tourists. Thank you.
