Tri-Service Dental Team Earns First Place at National Orthodontics Competition

A historic win highlights tri-service collaboration and the critical role of military graduate dental education in operational readiness.

May 15, 2026 by Sharon Holland

For the first time in program history, a resident from the Tri-Service Orthodontic Residency Program (TORP) has earned first place at a national competition hosted during the American Association of Orthodontists Annual Meeting. This historic milestone, presented to Navy Lt. Cmdr. (Dr.) Miles Pedersen, reflects both clinical excellence and the impact of military graduate dental education.

The award was earned in the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontics (CDABO) Resident Case Display competition, an annual event that brings together top orthodontic residents from across the country to present their most complex and compelling patient cases. present their most complex patient cases. The competition provides a national platform for residents to demonstrate technical skill, clinical judgment, and the ability to communicate outcomes at the highest professional standard.

What set this year's winning case apart was not just its quality, but the collaboration behind it.

The case represented a complete tri-service effort, showcasing the seamless interoperability that defines modern military medicine within the Military Health System (MHS). The complex care team brought together Pedersen, a Navy orthodontic resident, with multi-service faculty mentorship from Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Drew Havard and Air Force Lt. Col. (Dr.) Duy Nguyen. Crucially, the execution of the treatment plan required close coordination with the surgical team, led by Army Maj. (Dr.) Charles A. Long, an oral and maxillofacial surgery resident. Together, the team delivered life-changing care through a combined surgical-orthodontic treatment approach, addressing a severe condition that affected both function and quality of life.

The orthognathic surgery (a type of corrective jaw surgery) component of the case was performed by Long under Havard's supervision, showcasing one of the military's primary surgical training platforms. These procedures-often correcting complex facial and jaw deformities-help refine the advanced surgical skills required in both peacetime care and combat casualty scenarios.

The orthodontic treatment, completed by Pedersen, underscores another critical mission: correcting severe malocclusions, restoring function, and ensuring service members and their families can maintain their health and focus on mission requirements.

All participants in the case are part of training programs that fall under the Uniformed Services University's (USU) Postgraduate Dental College (PDC), the academic and research hub for the military's dental education enterprise. Residents are simultaneously enrolled as graduate students, earning advanced degrees that integrate clinical expertise with research and critical thinking-skills essential to delivering high-quality care in both garrison and operational environments.

"This is exactly what military medicine is designed to do-bring together expertise across the services to deliver exceptional care while preparing providers for the demands of operational medicine," said Dr. Drew Fallis, Executive Dean of USU's PDC.

Together, this type of integrated care and training ensures military providers are prepared not only to deliver complex treatment in clinical settings, but also to support operational readiness by maintaining the health, function, and deployability of the force.

Beyond the clinical outcome, the competition itself plays an important role in preparing residents for board certification. The American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) recommends case display participation as a rigorous critical-thinking exercise, particularly as part of its scenario-based clinical examination format. Residents must present detailed documentation. This includes case management forms, discrepancy index scores, CRE evaluation metrics, and cephalometric analyses, while also reflecting on treatment decisions and outcomes.

Cases are evaluated by CDABO members with oversight from the ABO, and judged across several key areas: uniqueness, treatment quality, records quality, and the strength of the written manuscript. Top submissions may also be selected for publication consideration in leading orthodontic journals.

For the Tri-Service team, the recognition is about more than a trophy-it's a validation of a training model built on integration, precision, and mission focus, and of the Uniformed Services University's role in preparing military health professionals through its graduate education programs.

In an environment where readiness depends on both individual expertise and coordinated care, this achievement offers a clear example of what is possible when all three services come together with a shared purpose: delivering exceptional care and preparing the next generation of military medical professionals.