Expansion Unlocked: Complex Cases. Clear Strategies. Confident Treatment

Fri October 22, 2027 8:00 AM - Sat OCtober 23, 2027 4:00 PM

The Conference Room in the Amenities Center, 11790 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191, 20191

 “I’ve taken the courses. I know the appliances. But when the case gets complicated, I still don’t know what to do.”

 You're already placing expanders. The straightforward cases have stopped scaring you.

Then one walks in that doesn't fit. The transverse clearly needs correcting, but teeth are missing and there's nothing where you'd normally anchor. Or the molars need distalizing first and you're not sure what order to do anything in. Or there's an ectopic molar and you genuinely do not know what to attach the appliance to.

Those are the cases this course is about, including the complex children and adolescent cases that most expander courses skate past.

Expansion Unlocked: Complex Cases. Clear Strategies. Confident Treatment is a once-only, two-day course on expander treatment planning for complex cases with Dr. Courtney Lavigne and Dr. Tracey Nguyen. It is for clinicians already doing early expansion in their practice who want to take it further and troubleshoot the more complex cases. Not an introduction. Not a review of what you already do well. Two days of real cases: what works, what doesn't, what we would have done differently, and what went seamlessly, so you can look at the next hard case and know how to manage it.

People have asked for this for years. We are finally delivering it, and we are not planning to run it again.

What we'll work through

•  Correcting the transverse when teeth are missing and conventional anchorage isn't available
•  Distalizing molars: when it belongs in the sequence, and how it changes your expander plan
•  Ectopic molars, and what to attach an appliance to when the obvious answer isn't there
• Bone-borne versus tooth-borne: where the current thinking actually sits on age and indication in younger patients
•  Real appliance designs, real treatment timing, and the results that followed

How the two days run

Roughly two hours on diagnostic review to get everyone working from the same framework. Everything after that is cases. Actual patients, actual records, the reasoning behind each design decision, and what happened.

Seats are capped at 30 so this stays a conversation rather than a lecture.

Who this is for

Practitioners already placing expanders / doing early expansion in their own practice. This is a firm prerequisite, not a suggestion. We start where most expander courses finish, and if you haven't placed one yet you will spend two days underwater. If that's you, get in touch and we'll point you toward the right starting place.

Continuing education

14 CE credits. AGD PACE approved.

Your instructors

Dr. Courtney Lavigne, DMD is a board-certified orthodontist and an Accredited Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a distinction held by fewer than 1% of dentists worldwide. She practiced restorative and cosmetic dentistry for ten years before orthodontics, is former visiting faculty at Spear Education, and lectures nationally and internationally on airway orthodontics and early intervention. She founded Anchor Academy and practices at Anchor Orthodontics in Providence and Wakefield, Rhode Island.

Dr. Tracey Nguyen maintains a private practice 30 minutes outside of Washington, DC in Northern Virginia. She is known for her social media presence, literature reviews and support for the dental profession to intervene in managing sleep related breathing disorders. Named one of the "Top 25 Women in Dentistry," Dr. Nguyen's passion is comprehensive restorative and cosmetic dentistry. She is accredited by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a visiting faculty mentor for the Airway Pros Workshop at Spear Education, a scientific advisor for the Kois Center, a Diplomate of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, a co-founder of ASAP Pathway, an educational platform on airway management and the founder of Nguyen Education, a dental mentorship program.

Both are Accredited Members of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, an unusual pairing for a course on expander mechanics.

Details

•  Dates: Friday October 22 and Saturday October 23, 2027
•  Time: 8:00am to 4:00pm both days
•  Location: The Conference Room in the Amenities Center, 11790 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191
•  Seats: capped at 30
•  CE: 14 credits, AGD PACE approved

Registration

Registration Policy: Team Members vs. Independent Allied Health Professionals

To ensure fair and consistent application of registration fees, all participants must register under the category that accurately reflects their professional and employment status.

1. Team Member Registration

Team member pricing is available to eligible employees of a registered doctor who attend the course with their employing or supervising doctor.

Any allied health professional employed by a dental practice is classified as a team member, regardless of their professional credentials or clinical role.

This includes, but is not limited to, registered dental hygienists, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, and other allied health providers employed by a dental practice.

Team members must attend the course with their employing or supervising doctor to qualify for team member pricing.

Team member pricing may not be used by an employee to register independently or attend without their associated doctor.

2. Independent Allied Health Professional Registration

The reduced allied health professional rate is reserved exclusively for independently practicing allied health providers who operate through their own independent business entity.

To qualify for this rate, the provider must:

Maintain their own independent business entity.

Not be employed by a dental practice.

Register and purchase under their own business entity rather than through a dental practice's team member registration.

Eligibility is based on the individual's actual employment and business status.

Allied health professional registrations do not include access to course recordings, replays, or other recorded educational content.

3. Eligibility Verification and Enforcement

ASAP Pathway reserves the right to verify employment status, professional affiliation, and independent business ownership to confirm registration eligibility.

If a participant registers under an incorrect category, ASAP Pathway reserves the right to adjust the registration fee to the applicable rate or deny discounted registration if the eligibility requirements are not met.

Registration categories are nontransferable and may not be used to obtain discounted pricing or educational access for which a participant does not qualify.

By registering, participants acknowledge and agree to these terms.