Dear Colleagues,

We take the liberty of inviting you to the 4th Czecho-Slovak Orthodontic Congress which is, at the same time, the 20th Congress of the Czech Orthodontic Society.

After 17 years, our joint congress returns to where it all began – to Bratislavy. In the meantime, the congress has expanded so much that, considering all our sections, we would not be able to fit in the original venue. Therefore, as the venue, we have chosen the congress premises of the Crowne Plaza hotel which is near the historical city centre and provides the required congress comfort.

We believe that we have chosen interesting topics and we are glad to have been able to attract top speakers. The main topics of the Congress include interdisciplinary cooperation, treatment of patients with facial cleft disorders and free topics. An entire congress course will be dedicated to the topic of interdisciplinary cooperation and will be led by the world-renowned Italian orthodontists Lorenz Moser and his wife Ute Schneider Moser.

Other keynote speakers – Ewa Czochrowska and Raffaele Spena – will also tackle interdisciplinary cooperation. The second main topic – the treatment of cleft patients – could not do without the cooperation of a variety of fields. An interesting lecture on the distraction of the alveolar process in cleft patients will be presented by Nejat Erverdi. Christodoulos Laspos, Director of the Cyprus Centre for Clefts, will share his experiences with preoperative preparation in neonatal patients. Peter Mossey will speak about the latest findings in the area of cleft prevention. Tommaso Castroflorio will be the main speaker in the Free Topics section and will present scientific studies on the treatment of patients with the Invisalign system.

An interesting program has also been prepared for orthodontic assistants. They can look forward to lectures on physiotherapy and ergonomics, as well as speech therapy treatment in cleft patients. Digitization of the orthodontic practice is another issue that is becoming increasingly important.

Dental technicians will learn more about the fabrication of epitheses. Other lectures will focus on the main topics of the Congress – clefts and interdisciplinary cooperation.

As always, you can look forward to social events. The first Congress evening will be dedicated to orthodontic assistants and dental technicians. The President’s reception for doctors will take place on Friday evening and will be themed on movie characters.

We also hope that you find the time to explore the city and walk around the historical centre from the St. Michael’s gate along the promenade to the Main Square with the Old Town Hall and then to the Hviezdoslav Square. It is also well worth visiting Eurovea – a new promenade on the embankment of the Danube River with restaurants, small cafés and a shopping gallery close to Slovak National Theatre.

On behalf of the entire organizing team, we cordially invite you to the Congress and look forward to seeing you in Bratislava.

	Irena Klímová President of the congress	Ivo Marek Vicepresident of the congress