American Orthodontics Corporation is First AAOF Million-Dollar Sponsor

The AAO Foundation has announced that American Orthodontics Corporation has doubled its original $500,000 pledge to become the first million-dollar sponsor in the history of the Foundation. Based in Sheboygan, WI, American Orthodontics provides solutions to orthodontists as a manufacturer of appliances including orthodontic bands, brackets and tubes.

The million-dollar sponsorship is partly a response to the AAOF's new fund-raising strategy, designed to take the foundation from its current level of $33 million in pledges to $100 million, says American Orthodontics President Mike Bogenschuetz.

"American Orthodontics is enthusiastic about being the first AAOF million-dollar sponsor and supporting the Continued Commitment to the Specialty℠ campaign," says Bogenschuetz, who joined the AAOF Board of Trustees earlier this year. "American Orthodontics has had 42 consecutive years of growth and now has more than 400 associates. We are an example of how the orthodontic specialty provides intellectually and financially rewarding careers not only for thousands of doctors, but also for many orthodontic vendors and their employees."

"American Orthodontics wishes to recognize the many benefits that the orthodontic specialty brings to society and give something significant back to the orthodontic community," says American Orthodontics founder and CEO Dan Merkel. "The AAOF is a great vehicle for doing so because the Foundation helps ensure the continuation of the specialty and the quality and continuity of residents' instruction. We were very impressed to learn that 80 percent of junior orthodontic faculty members supported by the AAOF were still teaching after five years." To learn more about the AAOF campaign, visit AAOfoundation.net or contact AAOF Executive Director Robert Hazel at rhazel@aaortho.org.