ORTHO-AMSTERDAM 2026
10 International Keynote Speakers
Thursday 25 June – Friday 26 June 2026 – Heineken Experience – Amsterdam
Curriculum Vitae – Andrew DiBiase
Since his appointment he has developed an extensive research portfolio, is part of the UK orthodontic National Clinic Trials Network and has received numerous awards and grants, including the Helen E. Dewel award from the American Association of Orthodontists, which he has won twice. His research interests include the clinical effectiveness of appliances and the psychosocial impact of
malocclusion.
Andrew also runs a successful private practice and has published and lectured internationally, has published over 90 papers in peer reviewed journals and co-authored four textbooks.
He is the past secretary of the British Orthodontic Society, an active member of the Angle Society of Europe, vice-dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons, England and is undertaking a PhD in psychology looking at the impact of malocclusion on peer relationships.
Abstract
Lecture: Malocclusion, peer relations and bullying among school children
The social world of the adolescent is complex. They move away from their family and care givers taking a central role in their lives to being under greater influence of their peers. It is also a period of great physical and emotional change when many seek and undergo orthodontic treatment. Peer relations are an integral part of social development and important for psychological well-being. Peer rejection and social exclusion in childhood are related to higher levels of loneliness, of depression, of externalising behaviour such as aggression, psychological maladjustment, poor academic achievement and school dropout. Children exhibit biases and prejudice from an early age and they typically like less and socially exclude other children who are seen as different.
A key feature that makes individuals different is their physical appearance and individuals deemed unattractive are more at risk of peer rejection, social exclusion and victimization. Dentofacial features have been shown to be important in attractiveness and therefore do children and adolescents with an aesthetically handicapping malocclusion find it harder to make friends?
This presentation will present the results of a large mixed methods study that looks at the relationship between malocclusion, peer relationships and bullying in 10- to 14-year-old school children that attempts to answer this question.
