Midwinter Meeting 2012 ends in Chicago

From the first post to the last, this blog coverage of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting at McCormick Place in Chicago began and winds down with author photos courtesy of the Dentsply booth. This year the company had free photos taken at the event by Chicago-based A Moon Jump 4-U, the reps for which were kind enough to email me the above photo in addition to giving me a print copy so I wouldn't have to scan the latter for inclusion on this blog.

I should note that my hair is blonde, not orange. For some reason the camera turns me into a redhead each year. Still, getting my photo taken at Dentsply booth at the Midwinter Meeting each year has become an annual tradition, so I asked the rep at the booth a bit about this process.

The rep told me that of the handful of backgrounds offered for the photos -- others included images that made it look as if you were riding in a canoe or jumping off a waterfall -- the one that I chose has been the most popular this year. I imagine that's probably because it was the most conservative design in the sense that you don't really have to act the part for the photo while in a room full of sharply dressed dental professionals.

The rep said there were definitely more hygienists who took advantage of the service than there were dentists -- this despite the Chicago Dental Society's figures listing nearly twice as many dentists as hygienists in attendance. He also said they go through about a box of photos a day during the event and that there are about 500 in each box, so that's a lot of photographs.

The Midwinter Meeting went pretty much as expected this year, and while my wife and I both had a good time we were certainly excited to see our 2-year-old daughter after three days away. I'll write a wrap-up post highlighting more about the event soon. If you have anything you'd like to share about the event this year, feel free to email me at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com.

Midwinter Meeting 2012 exhibit booth photos

Better late than never, here are some additional photos from the 2012 Midwinter Meeting exhibit hall at McCormick Place in Chicago, as promised. My wife and I unexpectedly left the event earlier than planned and I had terribly limited use of a camera, so there are only a few. My main goal for next year: Remember to bring my camera.

The photo above features the Glowrite booth, one of the more visually arresting booths at the event. That's probably a good thing, as catching peoples' eyes is exactly what their products are designed to do. I meant to ask the rep how many dentists actually use the Glowrite signs in their offices, or what the rep thought the benefits would be specifically for dental professionals -- as cool as the signs are, for instance, I can't see them matching the decor at my wife's dental office -- but he was with a customer each time I saw him and I ran out of time at other booths.

The next photo was taken at the Philips Sonicare booth and shows one of the sink-filled alleys where attendees could try out the company's AirFloss product. The photo was taken Saturday morning while things were relatively calm, but the sinks were packed on Friday afternoon.


My wife told me this morning I should note the thick carpet Philips had underfoot at their booth, which after walking around McCormick Place in heeled boots all weekend was "like walking on pillows" and was much appreciated.

Many booths at the event offered giveaways or interactive elements, like the two featured below from Plak Smacker and MedPerform, where attendees could spin the wheel for a chance to win various prizes. An interesting side note: In the course of conversation with the rep from MedPerform, I found out she's a fellow graduate of Western Michigan University. Small world.



These are just a small fraction of a small fraction of the booths that were available for browsing at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting. Next year -- armed with a camera and additional time -- I plan to offer a more thorough representation.

What were your favorite booths? Feel free to send pictures and/or information about your experiences at the event to me at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com.

Just say no to mouth breathing

Every second of every day, every person on the planet is faced with a choice: breathe through the nose or breathe through the mouth. According to the instructor of my wife's oral pathology course at Midwinter Meeting yesterday afternoon, way too many of us do the latter.

Apparently the proper way to breathe is through the nose, with your mouth closed, your teeth together and your tongue resting flush with the hollow of the palate at the roof of your mouth. Breaths should come just once every six to eight seconds.

Try that for a while. Not very comfortable, is it? At least it wasn't for me.

That said, I kept at it for a half hour or so and I actually got pretty used to it. People who breathe like this all the time, subconsciously, apparently have more energy and endurance, along with other benefits my wife told me and which I probably would have remembered if I'd been breathing through my nose instead of my mouth for the last 29 years.

Another reason not to breathe through your mouth if you can help it: Among the definitions of "mouthbreather" listed by Urban Dictionary is the entry, "a really dumb person." Yikes.

The photo above is by orphanjones and was found in the Flickr Creative Commons.

Clinicians Report is like 'Consumer Reports for dentists'

Shortly after stopping by the Midwinter Meeting exhibit hall booth for the United States Dental Tennis Association this morning, I stopped briefly to chat with two reps at the CR Foundation's Clinicians Report booth about gold before realizing that their "Gold Standard" banner was meant to refer to the quality of their product, not their product itself.

Meaning for some reason I thought they were a gold supplier for dental labs, which they're not.

In defense of my confusion, I used to work for a guy whose wife ran a dental lab in their basement, and he was always carrying on about the rising cost of gold. There aren't many people I can usually talk to about that who are interested, so when I do find someone there's a good chance the subject will come up.

Anyway, the confusion didn't last long, and I ended up having a brief conversation about what the company actually does do, which is test dental materials and publish their findings in a publication called Clinicians Report. (The reps said they also have a hygienist-specific publication.)

One rep described the organization as being like "the Consumer Reports for dentists."

According to the organization's website, the foundation was "organized as a unique volunteer effort where clinicians worldwide unite their expertise for the sole purpose of testing all types of dental products and disseminating results to colleagues throughout the world."

Sounds good to me.

The image above is by dentalsupply and was found in the Flickr Creative Commons.

The U.S. Dental Tennis Association sounds fun

I swung by the Midwinter Meeting exhibit hall booth for the United States Dental Tennis Association this morning to see what it's all about. The rep at the table told me the organization holds two continuing ed seminars each year, featuring a conference on the east coast in the spring and on the west coast in the fall.

Dental professionals at the seminars attend courses each morning, "then play tennis the rest of the day," the rep said.

He said the group is mostly made up of dentists, but they also allow for "auxiliary members" including dental assistants, hygienists and even attorneys.

The organization's website says its membership currently consists of more than 300 dentists from the United States and Canada. The next meeting is scheduled for April 22 through 28 in Kiawah Island, S.C.

The image above is by morgueFile user ardelfin.

Midwinter Meeting 2012: Day 3 begins

Day three of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting has begun in Chicago with the usual hustle and bustle as members of the global dental community are rushing to their various appointments, courses or -- as I plan on doing shortly -- are making their ways to the Dentsply booth in the exhibit hall to get their photos taken on Molar Mountain.

I'm still camera-free, which means I'll likely limit posting till I can secure a good way to grab images to accompany posts, but hopefully I can get some good shots of various booths in the exhibit hall that show more detail than the overhead shots I took yesterday. (The photo above is one of those photos.)

Some observations from yesterday afternoon's brief walk-through in the exhibit hall:

• There was a huge line wrapping about three-quarters of the way around the fairly large Opalescence Tooth Whitening Systems booth, so that's popular this year. For whatever reason, many of the people in line were wearing Burger King-esque crowns made of blue cardstock.

• Gendex brought a full-sized bus emblazoned with the words "Experience Gendex" on the side and parked it in the exhibit hall, which I'm sure would have been interesting to watch.

• Another long line was forming at the Philips Sonicare booth, where people were waiting for a chance to try something called AirFloss over sinks set up for that purpose.

• Something that may only be interesting to those outside the dental field, who aren't used to it: You'll never see more fake/model teeth than you will in the exhibit hall of a dental conference.

• Also interesting: There are a number of booths devoted to dental eyewear, often including funny-looking attachments -- presumably for magnification purposes -- that make them look like something straight out of a Tim Burton film.

• The number of comfy-looking dental chairs may make you want to take a nap partway through your walk-through.

• Then again, the number of sharp, torture-chamber-image-inducing dental instruments displayed in booths around the hall may be enough to keep you up till you can make your way to Starbucks.

• A number of booths were like jewelry counters -- I specifically noted the Hu-Friedy booth in my notes when referencing this -- with women gathered over the instrument trays as if they held diamonds, while dental reps explained the various ins and outs of each one.

Hopefully I'll get back to the hall soon -- preferably with a camera -- for some additional observations. Stay tuned.

Midwinter Meeting 2012: Day 2 ends

Another day gone of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting. I'm not going to write much tonight because it's late and I'm spent from the past few days, but here's a quick recap of the afternoon.

I spent a little over half an hour checking out the booths in the exhibit hall and still only made it about halfway through. The fact that I wasn't stopping to chat or anything and was moving pretty much the whole time is a testament to how big the place is. I took some notes and got some info that I hope to follow up on and write about tomorrow.

My wife's second course of the day focused in part on what she called "mouth breathing" when we discussed it on the drive back to our hotel this afternoon. She related some interested info that I again plan on delving into sometime tomorrow.

Unfortunately my wife has been more reluctant to give up her iPhone during her courses, which means I may be without a camera tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Cheers till then.

The photo above of McCormick Place is another gem from John Picken and was found in the Flickr Creative Commons.

Midwinter Meeting course titles are not SEO friendly

The course titles at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting are like old newspaper headlines: clever but not necessarily SEO friendly. Meaning you may or may not be able to tell what the course is about just by reading its title.

My wife's second course yesterday, for instance, is described in the event program as a presentation of "a potpourri of materials and techniques that will make your day at the office easier, more productive and fun." It's title: "What's Hot and What's Getting Hotter!"

The title of the course my wife is taking as I type this is somewhat better -- dubbed "The Jewels and Gems of Oral Pathology" -- but even that's just the course's subtitle. It's preceded by the phrase "Breakfast at Tiffany's," which perhaps makes more sense after you've taken the course.

Here's a list of some of the more interesting course titles available at this year's Midwinter Meeting, typed up exactly as they appear in the event's official program and presented context-free for your enjoyment:

• "Floss or Die: Aligning Practice Recommendations with Contemporary Evidence"

• "Life is Not a Stress Rehearsal"

• "Why Are Women So Strange and Men So Weird?"

• "Perfectionism, Depression, Suicide Dentists"

• "What is it? How do I use it?"

• "Who Caries?"

• "Lesions and Lifestyles"

• "Keeping the Flame Alive"

• "Trauma, Oh No: What Now?"

• "Spit Happens...So What?"

• "Show Me the $$ in Black, White and Green"

• "A Day in the Life of a Top Gun Dental Team"

• "Marketing to Explode Your New Patient Numbers"

• "I'm Spread So Thin You Can See Through Me"

• "Some Days You're the Pigeon, Some Days the Statue"

The photo above was taken just before my wife's second course of the day. That's her sitting under the painting, looking slighted by my incessant blogging.

Note that I lost my camera for the day, so while I plan on walking through the exhibit hall shortly I may not write about it till tomorrow.

Video of Midwinter Meeting escalator phenomenon

This morning I captured on video a strange phenomenon I've been seeing all weekend during the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago, which I've appropriately dubbed the "escalator phenomenon." I first mentioned the behavior in a post about McCormick Place's very tall escalators yesterday.

What's been happening is this: Most of the escalators I've seen at McCormick Place come in groups of three, often with two adjacent escalators rising to the next floor and one descending. What's interesting is almost any time there's a crowd using the escalators -- and during the Midwinter Meeting there's almost always a crowd -- people going up tend to gravitate almost exclusively to the outside elevator going up, leaving the center one empty.

The result of this behavior is that the one escalator often winds up quite literally shoulder to shoulder, packed with people from the top to the bottom, while the other remains at times entirely empty, leaving just the occasional person or two who, as I wrote in my previous post, "brave the empty one solo."

I'm sure there's some "official" psychological term for this crowding behavior, but I don't know what it is. If you care to comment feel free to send me an email at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com. And make sure to watch the video, as it shows exactly the behavior I'm talking about.

Midwinter Meeting 2012: Lunch at Connie's Pizza

Today's lunch came from Connie's Pizza, just across a large dining area from the McDonald's Express my wife and I got our lunch from yesterday. I had the "special" pizza -- and at $4.99 per slice it had better be special -- topped with mushrooms, sausage and pepperoni (see above).

Here's what my wife had for lunch:


Apparently McCormick Place also has a Ryba's Fudge Shop. The fudge was peanut butter chocolate and it was delicious.

Midwinter Meeting 2012 exhibit hall videos

Here are a couple short videos I took looking down over the exhibit hall at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Click here to view photos from the exhibit hall.

Longer lines at McCormick Place Starbucks

The line at the McCormick Place Starbucks this morning was a little bit more like what I'm used to seeing that the Midwinter Meeting each year, meaning long. My wife said this morning that she thinks Fridays are busier at the event in general because a lot of dental offices stay open on Thursdays, then come to the event just for Friday and Saturday. I think she's probably right.

Midwinter Meeting 2012 exhibit hall photos

As promised, here are a handful of photos taken inside the exhibit hall at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting at McCormick Place in Chicago. According to John Gerding, DDS, president of the Chicago Dental Society, this year's event features more than 600 exhibitors.

I hope to do a walk-though with my wife later today, then talk to some exhibitors and take some photos either late today or sometime tomorrow. With this many booths, there's always something interesting to check out.

Stairway ads at Midwinter Meeting 2012

Here are some cool stairway ads from McCormick Place featured during the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. "Teeth and All That Jazz," the phrase in the second picture, is the theme of this year's event.

Purell and water stations at McCormick Place

Here are some shots of those water and Purell stations I wrote about yesterday in my post about Listerine mouthwash in the bathrooms here at McCormick Place, in case you're interested.

Midwinter Meeting 2012 press pass

I almost forgot: Here's an image of this year's press pass for the Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. Which means soon you'll see images from the exhibit hall, taken within the walls rather than outside of them.

Midwinter Meeting 2012: Day 2 begins

Day two of the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago has begun after a night of wet snow that quickly turned into a thick, heavy slush for the morning commute. Despite the weather, we learned from our ridiculously long drive yesterday and took a different route, arriving at McCormick Place in about half the time as yesterday.

I didn't catch the name of my wife's first course of the day, but I did catch her iPhone, which means for a while at least we'll have photos to got with my brief ruminations. The photo above was taken from the top of one of the location's extremely tall escalators.

Don't forget, if you have any comments, concerns or suggestions about the weekend's events or the contents of this blog, feel free to drop me a line at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com.

Listerine in every bathroom

OK, so I can't say for sure that there's complimentary Listerine mouthwash available in every McCormick Place bathroom, but I can tell you the half dozen or so men's rooms I've been in have each had their fair share.

It's another nice touch to an event that also offers water and Purell hand sanitizer stations down many of the hallways where Midwinter Meeting courses are located. Alas, I'd have loved to offer you pictures of the latter, but my wife reclaimed her iPhone and I'm once again without a camera.

At least I got my picture from the men's room out of the way.

Midwinter Meeting 2012 exhibit hall

Here's a glimpse of the exhibit hall at the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago, from just outside the walls, of course. I may work on getting in tomorrow so I can post about some of the more interesting things available here.

As someone working outside of the dental profession, I'm most interesting in the things that are peripherally related to the field: flavored gloves, video game consoles for the office, giant tooth sculptures with tiny construction workers climbing all over them.

All of these were featured in various booths last year, and I'm sure there are equally interesting offerings this year.

If you get a chance to check things out, let me know what you thought at midwintermeeting (at) gmail.com.

Seriously, McCormick Place is huge (part 2)

Remember those escalators I was talking about? Here are just a few. They're very tall.

Often there will be two escalators going up and one going down, but for some reason everyone will be going up on just one of the up escalators, leaving the second one empty while the first is packed with people. It's interesting to watch and try to guess who'll be willing to set themselves apart from the crowd, braving the empty one solo.