Larson elected President-Elect of American Association of Orthodontists
Brent E. Larson, DDS, MS, Professor and Director of the Division of Orthodontics at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, and a practicing orthodontist in Rochester, Minn. since 1990, has been elected the 2017-18 president-elect of the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), the world’s oldest and largest dental specialty organization with more than 19,000 members in the U.S., Canada and abroad. The announcement was recently made at the AAO’s 117th Annual Session in San Diego.
“The AAO is committed to outstanding patient care and believes everyone deserves a healthy, beautiful smile,” Dr. Larson said. “As president-elect, I will continue to support the AAO’s dedication to helping AAO members deliver the highest level of care to patients. We achieve this through continuing education opportunities for members and their staff, sponsorship of research, and advocacy at the federal and state levels. It is truly a privilege to help lead this outstanding organization. The stronger we are as a whole, the better we can serve our patients.”
Dr. Larson graduated Summa Cum Laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1978, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He earned his DDS from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 1981, graduating first in his dental school class; he received the Alpha Omega Scholarship Award for that achievement.
In 1982, Dr. Larson completed a general practice residency in dentistry at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. As an Air Force officer, he served as a general dentist at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York, and later, after becoming an orthodontist, as chief of orthodontics and quality assurance coordinator at Torrejon Air Base in Spain.
Dr. Larson is a 1987 graduate of the orthodontic residency and education program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his master’s degree.
Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Dr. Larson was the orthodontic program director at the Mayo Clinic and assistant professor in the Department of Dental Specialties at the Mayo Medical School.
Dr. Larson served as the AAO’s secretary-treasurer for 2016-17, and he has been actively involved in organized dentistry and orthodontics throughout his career, including service as a site visitor for the Commission on Dental Accreditation for Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. He chaired the AAO Task Force on Orthodontic Faculty Recruitment and Retention. He is a past president of the Minnesota Association of Orthodontists and Midwestern Society of Orthodontists (MSO), an organization serving orthodontists in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Manitoba, and is a past MSO delegation chair to the AAO House of Delegates. In addition, he is a past chair of the AAO Council on Information Technology, the AAO Council on Orthodontic Education and the AAO Foundation Planning and Awards Review Committee.
Dr. Larson has served as educational liaison to the editorial board of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJO-DO). He also spent 15 years as a reviewer and synopsis writer for Practical Reviews in Orthodontics, a monthly literature review publication distributed around the world.
Dr. Larson’s scholarly articles have been published in a variety of refereed journals, including the AJO-DO, writing on clinical and educational topics, and more recently on 3D imaging and orthodontic treatment outcomes. He has lectured throughout the United States and abroad on orthodontic imaging, clinical topics, and orthodontic educational issues.
Dr. Larson is a member of many orthodontic and dental organizations including the AAO, the MSO, the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontics, the World Federation of Orthodontists, the American Dental Association, the Minnesota Dental Association and the Zumbro Valley Dental Society. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO). Dr. Larson is a member of the International Association for Dental Research, the American Association for Dental Research, and the American Dental Education Association.
Among awards and honors presented to Dr. Larson are the Distinguished Dental Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota, the Fredsall Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota Association of Orthodontists, the Earl E. Shepard Award of Distinction from the ABO for the highest achievement on the written board exam, and Teacher of the Year, Department of Dental Specialties Mayo Clinic, which recognized him for four consecutive years. He was inducted into the Mayo Clinic Teachers’ Hall of Fame.
Dr. Larson and his wife, Cindy, are residents of Roseville, Minn. He has three sons, Matt, Andy and Chad, two of whom are also orthodontists, and four grandchildren. He enjoys a variety of sports and spending time with the family “at the lake” in northern Minnesota.