Every year, orthodontic residency programs from across the United States and Canada compete by presenting records of their most difficult, but best treated, cases at the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) Annual Meeting. Last month, the Department of Orthodontics' second-year residents Nile Eckermann, Jackie Crawford, Jayne Kessel, Regine Torres, and Addie Peterson continued this tradition and competed in Miami, Florida.

During the past six competitions, Iowa has captured 2^nd, 1^st, 1^st,1^st, 4^th, and 3^rd place wins over 200 competing cases, in that order. Following this unprecedented winning streak, the University of Iowa has won again, this year capturing 2^nd place in a case supervised by attending faculty members Mike Callan and Clay Parks. The announcement of Iowa’s win was made at the annual meeting.

“Iowa is like the NCAA Alabama football team. They come to the playoff every year,” said Daniel J. Rejman, president of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontists.

Kyungsup Shin, graduate program director in orthodontics, is a key part of that success ensuring that the outstanding educational experience residents receive is translated into the treatment they provide. According to Shin, “Dr. Lina Moreno [chair of orthodontics] and I are extremely proud of our residents and their win, but we are especially proud of the care they provide Iowans.”