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According to "Dr. Wo" Wm. Randol Womack, DDS Editorial Director, Orthotown Magazine

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Wm. Randol Womack, DDS
Editorial Director,
Orthotown Magazine		 My how the time flies by. This particular issue represents the 18th month since the launch of Orthotown.com and Orthotown Magazine. I will admit, at the beginning of this venture it was a challenge for me to “write” instead of “speak” the way I did for Invisalign for the past seven years. I’ll also admit, with no shame whatsoever, that I have enjoyed the challenge.

Recently, real feedback on this endeavor came to me in the results of a recent survey we did about Orthotown.com and Orthotown Magazine. All of the responses were reviewed by the entire Orthotown staff, and to those who participated in this survey, we appreciate your time and effort. Upon review, our mission going forward is to respond positively to the feedback in order to make Orthotown Magazine and Orthotown.com more interesting and more valuable to the orthodontic profession.

Obviously we were very pleased with the amount of favorable comments that the survey showed and the recognition that a lot of hard work has gone into making this project happen. But the real value comes from the “constructive” responses that were sincerely intended to lead us forward in improving the magazine and the Web site, and we are working on them as you read this.

One concern when we started last year was the credibility of stating that Orthotown is only for orthodontic specialists. This was a major principle in the business plan and continues to be of primary concern and focus for our team. As with any imposed limitation, there is always someone who will “hack” into the system just to prove it can be done – and it has been done, but only a few times. However the “mission” continues to be that the web site and the magazine are limited to certified orthodontists and we are continuously reviewing and improving our procedures to control this important aspect of the business operation.

The feedback is also helping us improve the process of posting cases. Case discussions are the foundation of Orthotown.com. I have believed from the beginning that Orthotown.com should serve as an international “virtual” study club. The issue with orthodontic treatment verses dental treatment is the time it takes to show a finished orthodontic result. So, several weeks ago I asked our Webmasters to expand the Web site to include a “Virtual Study Club” section where orthodontic cases, according to classification, could be posted with beginning, then progress and then final records added and to have an ID assigned to each case. Next, I asked them to provide the opportunity for registered doctors to view the cases and then to “subscribe” to a particular case (or cases) in order to receive e-mail notifications when new records are posted. Coincidentally, several responses in the survey had asked for something just like this! This was no easy task for our Webmasters, but I am told that a “trial run” is coming in the not too distant future.

One of my future goals for Orthotown is for it to become a premier site to publish original articles. One of the survey responses indicated that it is very difficult to get article submissions published by other orthodontic journals. It was also suggested that we form a review board and begin accepting original articles for Orthotown. I have already contacted some colleagues about serving on a peer review board to explore this opportunity.

We will continue to be sensitive to errors in gender in our published cases and to work diligently to make Orthotown a magazine that our readers will look forward to receiving each month.
Orthotown Magazine
November 2025
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