On May 27th, I was invited by Dr. Noriyuki Kitai, Professor and Chairman of Ashahi University School of Dentistry, Department of Orthodontics, and given an opportunity to speak at his study group in Osaka and spoke about Lingual Orthodontics for 2 hours.

He graduated at Osaka University in 1986, one of the best Universities in Japan.  For 18 years he worked as an instructor and associate professor at Osaka University.
Since 2004 he has been chairman and professor at Ashahi University School of Dentistry.

I consider professors and chairmen to be different from private practioners and I tend to hold them in high regard.
Whenever I spend time with them, I always become very nervous.
Therefore I was very surprised by Dr. Noriyuki Kitai’s email that said he would come to my office just to say thanks when I had accepted his offer.

The day before the meeting, I had an appointment with Dr.Haruya Ogawa to have a quite casual dinner in Osaka, that is Takoyaki at public Japanese Bar.
However I had gotten a call that Prof. Kitai would join us so that we had Japanese Kushiage Dinner at a nicer restaurant.

Waiting for them in front of the restaurant is the polite thing to do when we see the people at first time in Japan, so I was waiting for Dr. Kitai in this way.
After a few minutes, he appeared with a smile, and we started the dinner.
Soon I learned that he is a quite friendly and kind, and we enjoyed a fantastic dinner.

Next day, I had around 50 Orthodontists at my lecture, which turned out to be quite successful.
My Lingual practice is quite different from that of other famous doctors’.
For example, I do not use Palatal bars, Loop mechanics, or Bands, and am using my original Lingual brackets that are small and comfortable for patients, and my way of thinking about the Bowing effects, the concept of Anchorage, etc., are quite different from other practices.
So I hope they could find my 2 hour lecture interesting.





The reason why I can get quite excellent results are the effects of my own Indirect Bonding Procedure and my brackets.
Without them, I will not be able to keep the quality of my Lingual treatment.
I was so happy that I have had such a nice time, and left Osaka.
I hope to see him in my town next time.




On June 4th, I had a chance to see Haruya again because he had a lecture at the Ko-Hoku-Shin-Etsu Orthodontic Society Meeting, held in my town.
He is my colleague of the USC course, and he currently has a private practice in Fukuyama, Hiroshima.

I drove my Alfa Romeo Spider to pick him up at Shiojiri Station.
After the brief sightseeing including Matsumoto Castle, we headed to “Sugimoto Ryokan” which is one of my favorite Japanese Style Hotels.





We enjoyed wonderful dinner and hot springs.
 


His lecture at the meeting.



Soba lunch at the typical Nagano restaurant.


I am so happy that we had such a wonderful time and relaxed together because I am always too busy with my practice, congresses and writing articles.
Thank you Haruya, and see you soon.