Written by Dr. K. Paranthamalingam
President of the Sri Lanka Orthodontic Society
The 9th SLOC was held at Hotel Galadari, Colombo on 22nd - 23rd of February 2020.The theme of the conference was “Enhancing Dentofacial Aesthetics and Function’. The conference kicked off by welcoming the chief guest, Dr Anil Jasinghe, Director General of Health Services (Sri Lanka) and Dr Mithran Goonewardene, Discipline Head & Program Convenor, Orthodontics (University of Western Australia) as the guest of honour.
The SLOC had an exciting lecture line-up which includes our guest speakers such as Dr Jim Hartsfield (USA), Dr Prem Premaraj (USA), Prof. Abbas Zaher (Egypt), Dr. Sumithra Hewage (UK) and many more. The 3rd Dr Shanmuganathan Sivasubramaniam Oration was delivered by Dr Krishnaswamy, Professor and Head, Department of Orthodontics and Vice-Dean, Ragas Dental college (Chennai, India).
During the ceremonial event held on 22nd February, we published and released the 2nd edition of the Sri Lankan Journal of Orthodontics. The conference delegates were also entertained with a cultural program presented by the National Youth Services Council of Sri Lanka. The night concluded with cocktails and friendships rekindled.
Unfortunately, the #covid19 situation saw to some withdrawals from a few of our listed lecturers. With regret, they send their apologies. During this testing time when travelling proves to be difficult, we pray for safety for all our fellow orthodontists. Nevertheless, we are thankful to those who were still able to make it and am grateful to them for making the conference a success.
The SLOC 2020 concluded on a triumphant note and it is evident by the number of complimentary notes received. The whole event was a great opportunity for participants to accumulate a wealth of knowledge in the field of Orthodontics. Some of the world’s most sort after speakers participated as resource persons to share their knowledge in the current developments in the Orthodontic field. The event was a great success not only academically, but it also paved the way for the participants to renew old friendships and make new ones.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all the local and overseas guest speakers, the participants who have presented free papers and posters at the conference, all the delegates, the sponsors and the trade participants to the conference. The main sponsor for this conference was Sunshine Healthcare Holdings Pvt Ltd. The other sponsors were La Solve (Pvt) Ltd, SS Dentopharma, GSK group of companies and Demed (Pvt) Ltd.
I also wish to thank many people who have contributed to organize this conference including the current SLOS Council, Staff of Hotel Galadari and the Event manager of this conference Asia Tours Pvt Ltd.
All Good Wishes, till we meet again at the next Sri Lanka Orthodontic Conference in 2022.