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2016
E V E N T S
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B Y M I C H A E L D I TO L L A , D . D . S . , F. A . G . D . , D I R E C TO R O F C L I N I C A L A F FA I R S , S I R O N A
i have two favoritememories from20 years of speaking in dentistry.
At CEREC 27 and a half, I got to lecture imme-
diately preceding my comedy hero, Steve Martin. I was thrilled when Sameer Puri told me I got to introduce Steve Martin and
Martin Short, and I told him I had a story about Steve that I wanted to use. Steve’s assistant said I would need to meet with
Steve to clear the story with him. I told him I could probably find a few free minutes for Steve if he wanted to meet me that badly.
2016
The Ultimate Dental Meeting
The story was how Steve
was the first comedian I ever
saw live. Unfortunately, the
show was in a Las Vegas casino
showroom that required you to
be 21 to attend, and I was only
17. Undeterred, I went to my
dad’s dental office, borrowed
a #11 scalpel, and performed
surgery on my 1980’s era driv-
er’s license, swapping the zero
in my zip code for the four
in 1964, instantly making me
21 years old, and five hours later
I was at the show. Incidentally,
forging a government issued ID
is illegal, and hence the story of
how Steve Martin was respon-
sible for me committing a felony. Steve smiled, said he liked the
story, and told me to use it. I put a check mark next to the line that
says “Tell Steve Martin a Story” on my bucket list, and then put a
check mark next to the line that says “Annoy Steve Martin” on my
bucket list, after I asked if I could say that I opened for him.
My other favorite memory is the experience of hosting CEREC
30 last year, which took the successes of CEREC 27 and a half and
multiplied them in terms of attendance, breakout sessions, celeb-
rity speakers and entertainment. In fact, CEREC 30 did so many
things well, that it took some time to figure out how to top it. The
meeting had evolved from every five years to every two and a half
years in response to attendees who wanted more “live” interac-
tion with the community. It became clear that the rapid evolution
of dental technology warranted an annual meeting for dentists to
learn how to integrate these technologies into their practices.
But to truly become “the ultimate dental meeting,” it needed
to have something for everyone, including staff members and
Dr. Mike DiTolla,
at CEREC 30,
opened for SteveMartin
(withMartin Short, above)
at CEREC 27 and a half
