The Gianelly/Schilder Symposium Presents Innovative Topics and Evokes Fond Memories for Participants

Faculty, students, alumni, and other dental practitioners came together for the Gianelly/Schilder Symposium on Orthodontic and Endodontic Excellence, held October 29 and 30 at the School.

The event honored the innovative work of both the late Dr. Anthony Gianelly, former Professor and Chair ad interim of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, and the late Dr. Herbert Schilder, former Professor and Chair of Endodontics. This is the third biennial Symposium hosted by Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) Continuing Education in honor of these two well-respected educators.

Friday’s program focused on endodontics and featured a wide range of innovative topics presented by international leaders in the field. Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter addressed participants mid-way through the day with a tribute to Dr. Schilder.

He said, "Prior to being named Dean, I proudly served as the first Herbert Schilder Professor of Endodontics and Chair of Endodontics and, thus, I can speak from first-hand experience on the impact that Dr. Schilder had on the profession. When he started his career, only 40 dentists in the US devoted their practice to endodontics; and there were no graduate programs. Among his contributions to the profession, Dr. Schilder introduced the predictability of healing for lesions of endodontic origin, defined the principles of cleaning and shaping, and developed the vertical compaction of warm gutta percha technique." Dean Hutter continued, "This “Schilder Technique” was so well known that the movie Finding Nemo referred to it in one of the aquarium scenes in the dental office."

On Saturday the program turned to orthodontics and again featured a broad range of cutting-edge topics, presented by world-renowned orthodontists. Dean Hutter addressed the participants, many of whom had the chance to learn from the late Dr. Gianelly during his long tenure at GSDM.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming today to this Symposium honoring Dr. Anthony Gianelly," said Dean Hutter. "He was a giant in the field of orthodontics and I know that he would be very pleased with the impressive panel of speakers and all of the attendees assembled here today."

Symposium organizer and Clinical Professor and Director of Continuing Education Dr. Zhimon Jacobson also commented, "We are delighted to once again be able to honor Dr. Anthony Gianelly and Dr. Herbert Schilder, two giants in the fields of orthodontics and endodontics, with this Symposium," said Dr. Zhimon Jacobson "The positive response we have received from participants is overwhelming and I am happy to see so many people turn out for this event."

Photos from the Symposium are available on the GSDM flickr account and also on the Facebook page.