ABO announces new director, Dr. Meenakshi Vishwanath (May 2023)

Meenakshi Vishwanath, B.D.S., M.D.S., M.S., of Lincoln, Neb., has been elected to the board of directors of the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO). The election took place April 21 at the American Association of Orthodontists(AAO) House of Delegates meeting in conjunction with the 2023 AAO Annual Session in Chicago.

The ABO directors are responsible for establishing policy with regarding the board certification of specialists in orthodontics. Each ABO director represents one of the eight constituent organizations of the AAO and serves an eight‐year term, which culminates in the position of president. Dr. Vishwanath, who represents the Midwestern Society of Orthodontists (MSO), will become president of the ABO in the 2030‐2031 year.

Dr. Vishwanath is currently an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry, with an anticipated promotion to associate professor with tenure in July 2023. She is also the program director of the graduate orthodontic program. She joined the university in 2017 and became program director in 2021.

Educated in the U.S. and India, Dr. Vishwanath earned her B.D.S. in dental surgery from Pondicherry University‐Mahatma Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Dental Sciences in Pondicherry, India, and then completed her M.D.S. in orthodontics from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences‐SDM College of Dental Sciences, Dharwad, India. For the next four years, she served as an assistant professor in the Department of Orthodontics at The Oxford Dental College & Hospital as well was in private practice in Bangalore, India. In 2009, she earned the membership in orthodontics from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, U.K.

Dr. Vishwanath came to the United States in 2012 and completed fellowships in orthodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and the University of Connecticut. She obtained an M.S. degree and certificate in orthodontics from the University of Connecticut in 2017. She has been ABO-certified since 2018.

In January 2022, Dr. Vishwanath was named an emerging leader to represent the MSO at the AAO winter meeting. She currently serves as treasurer of the Nebraska Society of Orthodontists.

Her research interests include orthodontic biomechanics, impacted canines, orthognathic surgery and interdisciplinary care of cleft lip and cleft palate. She has authored or co‐authored numerous research articles. She is a member of the editorial board of Seminars in Orthodontics and is a reviewer for Progress in Orthodontics, BMC Oral Health, International Journal of Medical Sciences, Angle Orthodontist, Clinical Anatomy and Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research. Dr. Vishwanath also maintains a faculty practice at UNMC.

On being elected to the ABO board, Dr. Vishwanath said, "It is an honor and a privilege to be selected to serve as a director for the American Board of Orthodontics. It is humbling for me to join the leadership of this distinguished group which has carried forward the mission of elevating the quality of orthodontic care for the public for over 90 years. I look forward to collaborating and learning from my fellow board members and adding value to the board’s critical work through my dedication and devotion to promoting excellence in orthodontics.”

“I believe I am the first director to serve the board as a director from my university and the state of Nebraska, as well as the first director of Indian descent. It is an honor to represent my university, state and my heritage,” she added.