Dr. Geisinger delivers the presidential address to the AAP membership at the AAP annual meeting in Toronto, ON.Dr. Mia Geisinger’s impact on the UAB School of Dentistry is undeniably profound. Since joining UAB over 18 years ago, she has made her mark not only at this school, but now on a national level. Currently, Dr. Geisinger serves as the Director of Advanced Education in Periodontology and Chair of the UAB Periodontology department. She spends a substantial part of the week seeing patients in the Periodontology clinic, while also serving in her role as a professor.

In addition to these roles at UAB, Dr. Geisinger also maintained a presence on a national level through organized dentistry. Dr. Geisinger was installed as the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) president at its 110th Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA in November 2024. She held this nationally recognized leadership position for a full year, ending her term at the 2025 AAP Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada. This appointment was very meaningful to Dr. Geisinger as she was elected by the membership of the Academy, composed of her fellow periodontists. As a member of the AAP for over 20 years, she had worked her way up by serving in a variety of roles throughout the organization through the years.

After being installed as President, her work started right away. Dr. Geisinger reflected that her first act as President took place “on the plane back from San Diego,” where she responded to a CBS article that investigated reports that dentists were removing natural, healthy teeth to place implants. In her response, she highlighted the critical role dentists and periodontists play in initiating therapies to save teeth, including, but not limited to, endodontic, restorative, and periodontal treatment. And the role of selective placement of dental implants to replace teeth that are lost to disease.

Rahul Wadhwani and Dr. Mia Geisinger standing together in the Perio clinic at UAB School of Dentistry.When asked to give some insight into her work during the tenure of her presidency, Dr. Geisinger detailed her involvement in multiple scientific projects, advocacy projects, and membership value initiatives. However, she emphasized that, as President, she was not working for the membership alone. She had a staff and board of trustees by her side that were extremely “talented and professional.” In all, it took a collaborative effort amongst all the AAP committees and their members to make these initiatives possible.

Dr. Geisinger firmly believes that organized dentistry, including organizations like the American Academy of Periodontology, has a huge role in the way that this field can be innovative. She advocates for early involvement in organized dentistry, even as za dental student. Participating with organizations in dentistry that are focused on the betterment of the profession can highlight the commonalities between dental healthcare professionals and foster a sense of belonging. Dr. Geisinger believes that seeking out these experiences is invaluable since students can take advantage of free virtual webinars and attend dental conferences to meet other professionals in the field. Regarding professionals in different fields, Dr. Geisinger emphasized the importance of interplay between AAP and organized dentistry groups of other specialties. The Dental Specialty Group (DSG) is an organization composed of all accredited specialty groups, allowing meetings amongst specialties such as Periodontology, Prosthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics, Endodontics and more. During the past year, the AAP was the host organization for the DSG, which Dr. Geisinger found to be rewarding. Through these interactions, the different organized dentistry groups could work in synergy to tackle problems that are faced throughout the entire dental landscape, such as new federal loan limits and dental workforce challenges.

The opportunities that organized dentistry provides are not limited to conferences and webinars. Beyond that, Dr. Geisinger believes that organized dentistry groups are the “conduit for how we get information.” Many innovative topics in dentistry have conflicting data based on research that is often difficult to apply in the clinical setting. Additionally, there is an abundance of new research every year across dental disciplines. As Dr. Geisinger mentions, such scientific discoveries are presented to dentists and the public. To really improve our delivery of patient care, dentists must turn to organized dentistry to provide a “true North” and point to predictable therapies that are applicable to patients based upon their clinical presentations. Further, organized dentistry allows the means to crystallize information pertinent to patient care and deliver it back to dentists in a digestible way. Science plays a massive role in how organized dentistry groups relay their information. According to Dr. Geisinger, science is not just plain facts. It is about “asking the right questions,” which is why science is constantly changing. It is the job of the dental professional to stay up to date with those changes and be able to apply that science in a meaningful way with the guidance from organized dentistry. Dr. Geisinger believes that the reliance on trusted science from organized dentistry groups, such as ADA, AAP, ADOCR, and others, is “more important now than ever.”

From left to right: Dr. Yousif Al-Aboosi (UAB Perio 2019), Dr. Farahnaz Fahimipour (UAB Perio Assistant Professor), Dr. Katie Martin (UAB Perio 2019), Dr. Nico Geurs (UAB SOD Dean), Dr. Mia Geisinger (UAB Perio Chair), Dr. Jennifer Bain (UAB Perio and PhD 2014)
Finally, Dr. Geisinger was asked to send a message to any dental students reading this that may not know the direction they want to take their career in. She said the following:

“Figure out what you are passionate about. Figure out what you will get up every day for the 30-40 years of your career and will make you excited to go to work. Don’t decide based on money or external pressure. Decide because you love it. Because if you are passionate about something and doing what you love, you will find success.

Ask someone you trust and look up to for advice and for mentorship. Find an opportunity to learn more about a subject that you are interested in and gain an insider’s perspective on the important next steps for your path.

You can be a leader within your practice, you can be a leader within your study club, you can be a leader within your community. But when it comes to leadership, never think about the position. Always think about the impact; think; “how can I help?”  And if you can help, if you can make an impact by taking on a little bit more work, a leadership role, then it’s worth spending your time and talents. As a leader, you will have to make some hard decisions. And at the end of the day, the only way that those hard decisions and the additional effort will work is if you know you’re doing that because you believe that those decisions will have an impact on the future of our profession, on the patients that we treat, and on our colleagues that we work with.”