President's Message

May 27, 2009

The three months that have passed since our meeting in Denver have been busy ones for the officers and directors of the ABFO and especially for the chairpersons and members of the various committees.

The Strategic Planning Committee under the stewardship of Curt Dailey continues their review of the past and current status of every aspect of the ABFO and each of its committees. The strategic planning committee will report their findings and recommendations in late June.

Harry Mincer reports that the Certification and Examination Committee members began their analysis of procedures before the latest examination was completed and have continued their work to streamline and improve the management of the practical and oral portions of the ABFO Board Examination. They have also been busy working with Occupational Research and Assessment developing the proposed new recertification examination.

Bryan Chrz informs us that the Bitemark and Patterned Injury Committee members continue to wrestle with dual difficult tasks of drafting new report writing guidelines and reviewing the terminology guidelines relating to bitemark analysis to determine whether or not revisions are recommended.

Greg Golden has completed the revamping of the ABFO Image Series and reports that the entire series will be stored on a single DVD. This valuable aid to forensic odontologists and other speakers and educators will be available very soon. Watch for the details to be posted on this website.

Peter Loomis [Dental Identification] and Jim Lewis [Age Estimation] report that their ad hoc committees are making progress with development of the two workshops planned for the February 2010 meeting in Seattle. The BOD has already approved the awarding of limited case credit to attendees who successfully complete the dental identification workshop. Similar limited case credit for the age estimation cases will be considered by the BOD after reviewing the workshop design and curriculum.

The ad hoc Manual Revision Committee will meet in Atlanta in June to finalize the consolidation and organization of the material in that important document. The goal is to eliminate incorrect entries, resolve conflicting items, remove unnecessary material, and organize the manual to allow for easier access and navigation. We anticipate a much improved and more concise manual than the current 553 page behemoth. All material removed from the current manual will be archived and available from another part of the website.

As mandated by the bylaws, these and any other proposed changes will be sent to chairperson Veronique Delattre for review by the Research Committee. The final proposals will be distributed to all Diplomates before November 22, 2009 for their consideration and will be voted upon at the Monday night, February 22, 2010 Diplomates meeting in Seattle

On behalf of your officers and Board of Directors…Best regards,

David R. Senn, DDS
ABFO President

210.567.3379
senn@uthscsa.edu