Winds of change.

“There is nothing permanent except … Change”

This timeless quote exemplifies the essence of reality. Change is inevitable and is the vehicle for both growth and development. The Federation of Operative Dentistry of India (FODI) was established in 1982 and has been the harbinger of change and development in the field of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics in India. From its humble beginning, it has now grown on to have more than 2100 members across the country.

The term “Operative Dentistry” is more representative of the practice philosophy of our profession in the 1980s. However, with the change in both materials and philosophies, our profession encompasses two vastly diverse fields of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics. It was inevitable that the majority of us felt the need to change the name of our society to reflect the true nature and spirit of the profession.

In the recently concluded 26th Annual Conference of the FODI held at New Delhi during 11–13 December 2011, the AGM unanimously decided to change the name of our society as INDIAN ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATIVE DENTISTRY and ENDODONTICS (IACDE). The journal will continue publishing in the same name. All further activities of our society and the journal will be conducted under the aegis of IACDE.

It is a sad moment as we pause and offer our prayers to one of the founding fathers of our association, Dr. B. P. Rajan. It is befitting that a man who was and is an inspiration to many be immortalized for posterity. I thank Dr. A. Parameswaran for consenting to write a memoir on the life and achievements of Dr. B. P. Rajan.

One of our missions has been to enhance the quality of research emanating from our fraternity. I had the opportunity to attend an excellent 1-week workshop on Biostatistics and Epidemiology conducted at Christian Medical College, Vellore. It was an eye opener to realize that the field of research methodology and biostatistics is so well structured and developed. It is imperative that both researchers and readers have a better understanding of this fundamental subject. In this regard, I have requested our Associate Editor, Dr. Krithika Datta, to write a four-part series on this aspect. She is an important resource person in the field of research methodology for The Tamil Nadu Dr. M. G. R. Medical University and conducts workshops for them in this sphere regularly.

As we step into 2012, I once again take this opportunity to thank all the authors for choosing J Conserv Dent for their valuable research, all the reviewers in our editorial panel for contributing their time and intellect in making each article more meaningful, and each member of our association for giving me this opportunity to serve the journal.