A heartfelt thank you to Dr Joel Weaver.

Abstract

It is a great honor to assume the editorship of Anesthesia Progress. I am humbled to be taking over this position from my good friend, mentor, brother anesthesiologist, and fellow researcher, Dr Joel Weaver. The legacy of the legendary doctors practicing anesthesia for dentistry who have been past editors includes Drs Harcourt Stebbins, Bruce Douglas, Norman Trieger, Raymond Dionne, and John Yagiela. Dr Weaver, however, has devoted more years to this journal than any other editor and has overseen tremendous advances. Under Dr Weaver's watch, the quality of the articles has improved from its already high level; a continuing education section led by Dr Dan Becker was instituted and was very informative; an online submission system was initiated; and the journal became online accessible for current and most back issues as well. The latter 2 advances are remarkable particularly for those of you who know Joel and how he feels about his computer literacy skills! But, happily, even these have moved steadily forward over these 19 years. Importantly, Dr Weaver has been editor for so long that many of you probably do not remember that editorials were infrequent in the past, and many times, the editorial authors were invited experts. Joel, however, began publishing his own editorials for every edition of Anesthesia Progress. And what editorials they were. As honored as I am to take over this position, it is my hope that I can be half as insightful, cogent, and articulate as Dr Weaver has been. I always anticipated the arrival of Anesthesia Progress to see what Joel had to say and about what topic. Dr Weaver, everyone involved in sedation and general anesthesia for dentistry owes you a debt of gratitude for all you have done over the years in teaching, research, and service for this specialized area of dental practice. At the same time, I wish to thank the associate editors, Drs Ken Reed and Dan Becker, as well as the illustrious editorial board, for their work on making Anesthesia Progress the leading English language journal for anesthesia in dentistry. Dan will be retiring from his position but Dr Reed has agreed to stay on for a bit longer as associate editor. Dr James Tom, associate professor and dentist anesthesiologist at University of Southern California Ostrow School of Dentistry, will take over for Dr Becker. Finally, I wish to thank the staff at Allen Press, including Ms Lindsey Givens, Mr John Walker, Mr Chris Brower, and Mr Joe Barriger, for welcoming me to the journal and their hard work over the years. As I look ahead to the future of Anesthesia Progress, I hope to build on Dr Weaver's many contributions. Our online submission system has many advanced features, which I will be activating in the near future. This should help authors and the staff of Anesthesia Progress to improve communications and track the progress of submissions. In addition, other features will provide important data to help monitor and improve submissions to the journal. Building on Dr Becker's work, Dr Tom will expand the continuing education section with invited articles on sedation and general anesthesia management of patients presenting with various medical conditions, review articles on areas of interest to anesthesiology in dentistry, updates on medical conditions and new pharmacologic agents, and discussion of clinical cases. Additionally, I hope to expand the abstract section of Anesthesia Progress to include more abstracts from the Japanese Dental Society of Anesthesiology as well as other important anesthesia journals. Anesthesia Progress is the official journal not only of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology, but also of the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists, the European Federation of for the Advancement of Anesthesia in Dentistry, and the International Federation of Dental Anesthesiology Societies, as well as dental anesthesia societies in Australia and Canada. The journal is truly a worldwide resource. Anesthesia Progress fulfills an important role for dental anesthesia researchers by providing an avenue for publication of important advances in the field. And, most importantly, it helps the clinician to advance his or her own knowledge in the fields of local anesthesia, sedation, and general anesthesia for our ultimate goal: improving the health and well-being of people everywhere. There are tremendous advances being made in anesthesia practice today. Not all will be applicable to office-based anesthesia, the predominate mode of practice for our readers. However, many will be. And I expect Anesthesia Progress to be the vehicle that delivers that information to the wider dental anesthesia community. I wish to thank the Board of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology for allowing me this great opportunity to be of service to the society, to all the other societies who recognize Anesthesia Progress as their journal, and to the entire dental profession.