It was felt that the courses now being conducted lacked the depth and scope that was needed for a good education in fixed orthodontics. The courses that purports to teach fixed orthodontics in a few days, weeks or months time does not do justice to the vast field of orthodontics and produce at best half baked practitioners with knowledge in and slave to a particular technique / prescription, unable to innovate or adapt to newer developments in the field. As Dr.Burstone says, a good practitioner of the art and science of fixed orthodontics must grow from”orthodontics of personalities" to “orthodontics of biomechanics", delivering what is best to his patient. The 3 tiered course structure of AFO, provides a firm handholding to the participant from the beginner stage until he becomes an expert practitioner. AFO LEVEL I - Straight Wire (MBT Prescription) Orthodontics Demystified! This is a 2 day course meant for the dental practitioner who wants to include fixed orthodontics treatment in his skill repertoire and thus increase his patient base. The course is also meant for those dentists who are practicing older techniques of labial orthodontics and want to switch over to the more modern straight wire technique. The course consists of one day of theory and one day Hands-on on typodont. It is the object of the course to introduce the participant to the technique of Straight Wire orthodontics and equip the participant with enough knowledge and skill to start practicing this technique in their clinics. Coupled with the extensive online support and post course mentoring, this is the ideal course for a beginner trying to start orthodontics in his practice. CP: Attending this course entitles the participants to a Level One (L1) AFO certificate and 200 credit points. After completing the course, the participants can start on generalized / anterior spacing and straight forward first bicuspid extraction cases. These types of cases are the ones that would have been treated with removable appliances before the participant learned fixed orthodontics. Aabout 70% of cases presenting in your clinic would be of this type. Each case is discussed with AFO using the proprietary online case discussion template. Each discussed and finished case will fetch you 10 points. This means after about 80 cases and 2 years later, added together with your 200 Credit points form the Certificate course, when you reach 1000 credit points, you are ready for the AFO LEVEL II course. (Participants can jump to the next level of course earlier if they are found to have exemplary proficiency. The final arbiter will be the Director of AFO) AFO LEVEL II – Orthodontics of Biomechanics and the Realistic Treatment PhilosophyTM This is a 3 day course which will teach the participants the finer aspects of biomechanics within a PEA philosophy. The participants will the taught wirebending and forming and using space closing loops. Realistic Treatment PhilosopyTM, the technique developed and promoted by Dr.Ravi Kumar, will be taught at this stage. This will equip the participants to treat most of the orthodontic cases in a shorter period of time than would be taken with traditional orthodontics. CP: Attending this course entitles the participant to a Level Two (L2) AFO certificate and 300 credit points. After completing the course, the participants can start on more complicated cases and can individualize the treatment design for each case. About 90% of cases presenting in your clinic would be of this type. Each case is discussed with AFO using the proprietary online case discussion template. Each discussed and finished case will fetch you 10 points. This means after about 70 cases and 1 year later, added together with your 300 Credit points form the Certificate course, when you reach 1000 credit points, you are ready for the AFO LEVEL III course. (Participants can jump to the next level of course earlier if they are found to have exemplary proficiency. The final arbiter will be the Director of AFO) AFO LEVEL III (FELLOWSHIP) - Advanced Orthodontics This is a 5 day course with hands-on in the different labial techniques such as Tip-Edge, Begg’s and Self Ligating Brackets. Orthodontic Mini Screw Implants will be taught to gain further control of each orthodontic case. The participant will be asked to present a thesis / seminar on patient cases. The topic of the thesis / seminar will be decided by the Director. Successful completion of this course will lead to the participant being awarded an AFO Fellowship. This entitles the participant to learn Lingual Orthodontics.