When my children were in grade school, if you asked them what they looked forward to in the upcoming year, they would have said their birthday, Christmas, and the AGD national meeting.

For several years, our entire family would travel to the AGD meeting. My husband Gary would take the kids to see the sights around the meeting city, and I would attend CE classes. The three of them would plan ahead of time where they would go and what they would do. While I planned which classes I wanted to take. (Learn more about AGD2024 in Minneapolis, July 17-20.)

Some of our most memorable trips were to Nashville, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Each night, the children would give me the rundown of their day. In Nashville, they went to an amusement water park, had a river cruise in the hotel, visited the Grand Old Opry and drove to Huntsville to the the US Space and Rocket Center. In Washington DC, they went to the Capitol, the White House, went to President Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, and walked the Gettysburg historical site. In Los Angeles, they spent several days riding the rollercoasters in Disneyland and Knots Berry Farm and had a trip to Sea World. 

AGD's scientific sessions focus on providing hands-on learning experiences for general dentists. Still, the meetings are usually in cities that offer exciting entertainment or fun vacation excursions for the participants and their families. I know many of my peers I saw during the day in my courses also brought their families to take advantage of these unforgettable experiences.   

Now, my children are grown up and married, but they still talk about how wonderful it was to have mom go to a dental meeting. 

They had Dad all to themselves and were able to have fun adventures. My husband said how wonderful it was for him to really connect with the kids as they spent their time together. Between his work and travel schedule, he was not home every night, so having this time to be a dad was really special for him. 

For me, sitting in class receiving top-notch education while getting a text and picture of them on the rides ... Priceless. 












Cassandra Pietrok, DDS, MAGD, a general dentist from Omaha, Nebraska, is a member of the AGD Communications. Council. Her passion for helping people master their craft includes developing the Nebraska AGD MasterTrack program. In addition to continuing education courses in all aspects of dental health care, Dr. Pietrok also spends her time volunteering and organizing missions, contributing to charitable work throughout the community, and ensuring that all of our patients receive the high-quality care they deserve!