WE OFTEN HEAR about the American Dental Association, but there’s another organization just for endodontists: the American Association of Endodontists (AAE).
The Founding of the AAE
In 1942, a group of dentists, practitioners, and educators got together at the Palmer House in Chicago, wanting to form a society to share their experience and interest in endodontics. Within three months, they had founded the AAE.
What Does the AAE Do?
The AAE’s main functions are patient outreach and education on root canal therapy and the importance of saving natural teeth, support for educators training the next generation of endodontists, continuing education and best practices in endodontics, member advocacy, support for endodontic research, and certification through the American Board of Endodontists.
The AAE Today
Since its founding, the AAE has adapted to changes in American society and the dental profession, particularly regarding rapid advances in dental technology, the explosion of new medical knowledge, and dramatic changes in the demographics of dental diseases.
The mission of the AAE has grown beyond a forum for exchanging information between endodontists, becoming an educational agency for the profession. Thanks largely to the work of the AAE, endodontics became officially recognized as its own dental specialty by the ADA in 1963.