Together, Was it a Dream?

So, have you ever had a dream where when you awakened you were in the air, seated without much leg room and wearing a mask, and no refreshments were being offered or even available? It happened to me last week.

And once I realized I wasn’t being kidnapped or in a helicopter, I relaxed a little. It had been almost a year and a half since my last up-in-the-air experience, and I was seriously out of practice. When I saw I was getting away via Southwest, and not American Airlines (like my Miami bros), my pulse dropped into double digits; the facial twitch also gradually resolved.

Of all things, I happened to be reading The Premonition, a book written by Michael Lewis (the same guy who wrote Money Ball and the Big Short.) Lewis tends to write about semi-tortured, intuitive people who are the first to understand something that will change everything. If it’s the Hollywood versions with Brad Pitt having the inside track on MLB Sabermetrics or Christian Bale zeroing in on the collapse of subprime loans and throwing $1 billion of investors’ money into credit default swaps, the protagonists aren’t just smart; they lug around basketballs when it relates to taking courageous actions.

The Premonition is about the pandemic and the people who knew what to do and how to manage Covid while the powers that be (the CDC, the U.S. public health system, and you-know-who) weren’t listening. A small band of world class scientists and public health physicians went rogue, took chances, and persevered; their tag was The Wolverines.

So again, like in a dream, my 35-minute flight, straight outta Ontario landed me in Las Vegas. On my ride to the Wynn Hotel, I learned every major league sports entity will soon find a home in Sin City. And I totally get the Raiders, and Hockey really doesn’t count, but the former American National Pastime?

I registered and, in the process, tore off my mask (I think that particular ritual has been going on for a while in town.) Next thing you know, I was poolside, surrounded by dentists (and I like almost all of ‘em.) That’s when I realized my first trip outta the double Moderna chute could be Michael Lewis material. After all, when nobody was looking, I fled Pasadena on an early AM flight to McCarron International for a reason; the American Academy of Clear Aligners (AACA) Galler Reunion Convention.

The Galler part of the Convention title references the Doc who started it all, Dr. David Galler. And there’s a definite Michael Lewis parallel. The AACA’s band of independently thinking professionals and germaphobes were clearly more than the equal of the CDC in taking precautions versus the pandemic. And Galler also goes by the “Wolf” of Invisalign. And the organization evolved from Reingage, “The course that changed everything,” to become the most productive Invisalign providing group on the globe.

And just like Pitt and Bale, Galler (portraying himself), knew something others didn’t see. Starting with a “rag-tag” selective group of general dentists (Wolverines?), Galler employed some untried dental approaches: ingenuity, humor, vision, love, and family. After over 40-years in dentistry, being part of the AACA (and even a Board member) seems like a dream. In fact, last Wednesday, Galler was doing stand-up on the same Encore stage with comedian Russell Peters, and I wound up on the big screen doing some comedy too. Waitress, time to cut me off; check please.

From a 2-day transformative course/road show that drew 500 dentists to an inaugural convention in Dallas, the AACA now includes almost 2,800 members and has outgrown the Wynn Hotel as a convention venue. The love remains. With 25% of the general dentist Invisalign market share in North America, we’re still family.

GRC was attended by over 1,600 colleagues, team members, and vendors. The Wynn Hotel was first class, the breakout sessions were powerful and ran like clockwork. Dr. Galler’s opening session message was inspiring, encouraging, funny, and heartfelt. From Tuesday through Thursday and into Friday’s workshops, I couldn’t help but notice a mix of thoughtful conversation, laughter, and even a few tears. Late, great Basketball Coach Jim Valvano would’ve called each 24-hour span “a heck of a day.”

A special thanks and total respect to Dr. David Galler, the innovator, leader, and friend who changed everything. And for family who’ve mostly been apart since last March, it was great catching up.

Until we meet again (or when we next WhatsApp chat or Zoom) it was an awesome long-awaited hug.

Stay great! Be healthy. Fight on.

Love y’all.