President’s Message: From Broadcasts to Breakthroughs: AAE’s Bold New Chapter

Wow!

I couldn’t have imagined that exactly four weeks after becoming AAE President, I would be spending an entire day in a New York City broadcast studio. But that’s exactly where I found myself the first Friday in May — conducting interviews for Save Your Tooth Month, touting our value as endodontists, and emphasizing endodontics’ crucial role in saving natural teeth. Even though my predecessors Drs. Flake, Hirschberg, and Zweig gave me the proverbial heads-up about the experience, I have to admit: I was well outside my comfort zone.

By 8:30 pm that evening, I had wrapped up my final interview with a Boston-based radio show. The day was long and exhausting, but deeply rewarding. Our message about the importance of endodontics reached — or will soon reach — more than 100 media markets across the U.S., with an estimated total audience of over 200 million people. Many of them may be hearing about endodontists for the very first time. The importance of saving natural teeth is being broadcast loud and clear!

From Toolkits to TikTok

When I began practicing in the late 1980s, there was no social media, mobile phones were just emerging, and although artificial intelligence had existed in theory since the 1950s, it had not yet entered practical use. While there was plenty of talk about promoting endodontics, we lacked the instruments and know-how to do it effectively. The AAE allocated marketing assessments and created a Toolkit to help us connect with our general dentist referrals. There was even talk of billboards or TV commercials, but those efforts were often too expensive, impractical, and unreliable. (Just think of the “Got Milk?” campaign—despite its popularity, it didn’t move the needle on consumer behavior.) And reaching out to patients directly, bypassing referrals? That was entirely off the table.

Today, the landscape has transformed considerably. MySpace became the first social platform to hit a million users in 2004. Now, in 2025, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok collectively boast more than 8 billion user accounts—surpassing the global population (many people use multiple platforms). Social media has changed everything — the way we communicate, the way we shop to the way we inform. It gives the AAE a direct line to millions of patients and consumers. We can target messages with precision, tell our story our way, and shape the public narrative about who we are and what we do.

National Recognition, Local Impact

From high-impact national media coverage to millions of digital impressions through Worth Saving and Save Your Tooth Month, the AAE is changing the public narrative and ensuring endodontists are front and center in the conversation about quality dental care. And patients are listening — they’re choosing endodontists. Year-over-year insurance claims data shows a clear trend: endodontists are increasing both patient share and treatment volume, solidifying their role as the go-to experts for root canal treatment.

Data commissioned by the AAE, based on U.S. dental insurance claims analyzed by Fluent, shows continued market share growth in both the number of endodontic procedures and patients being treated by endodontists:

• Endodontists’ share of treatments rose from 34.6% in 2019 to 40.4% in 2023
• Endodontists’ share of patients rose from 36% in 2019 to 39.4% in 2023

For broader context, endodontists performed just 25.4% of endodontic procedures in 2006, according to a 2016 ADA Health Policy Institute brief. The growth we’re seeing now represents a major shift toward specialist care in under two decades.

In the 2024 membership year alone, the Worth Saving campaign delivered:

• 50+ media interviews
• 200 million+ media impressions
• 3,500+ media placements

And this year, we’re already off to a strong start with 20+ interviews in just the first month and many more on the horizon. For additional perspective, in 2024, we celebrated a record-breaking 12 state proclamations recognizing Save Your Tooth Month. As of May 31, 2025 we’ve surpassed that with 18 proclamations.

Our digital efforts are strengthening endodontists’ online visibility:

• Nearly 2 million visits to AAE websites last year
• Our “What is a Root Canal?” page remains the #1 Google search result for related queries, with nearly 660,000 unique visitors in the past year
• Over 60,000 patients used FindMyEndodontist.com to locate a specialist

AAE leaders are also making headlines in major outlets including People Magazine, The New York Times, TIME Magazine, NBC5 Chicago, Yahoo Lifestyle, Delish.com … the list goes on and on.

Smart Strategy, Real Results

None of this is happening by chance. It’s the result of strategic investment in award-winning consumer campaigns, targeted public relations efforts, and intentional media outreach. Yes, we are bypassing the traditional referral model to speak directly to patients. But we’re doing so with intention. Our marketing targets the very patient segments identified through our research as most likely to seek out and choose an endodontist.

And it’s working.

Endodontists are busy. There’s been no backlash from the broader dental community. In fact, orthodontists have followed a similar direct-to-consumer model for years with no compromise to quality or continuity of care. You could even argue that patients who actively choose their providers become more informed and engaged in their care resulting in better outcomes for everyone.

Purpose and Progress

All signs point to this being a fast-paced, high-impact year filled with momentum and meaningful progress.” And I wouldn’t have it any other way. From studio lights in Manhattan to state proclamations and search engine dominance, we’re not just spreading the word — we’re shaping the future of endodontics.