ADA Pauses Annual Dental Meeting Indefinitely After 2026 Scientific Session

The ADA annual meeting is paused until further notice. The American Dental Association announced it on November 9, 2026, after its Indianapolis Scientific Session. No return date has been set.

TL;DR

• The ADA paused its annual meeting until further notice after the 2026 Scientific Session.

• A bylaw change removed the rule that the ADA must hold an annual scientific session.

• The House of Delegates keeps meeting in person, and ADA online CE stays available.

ADA Announces Indefinite Pause of Its Annual Meeting

The pause covers the meeting known as the ADA Annual Meeting, SmileCon, and the Scientific Session.

ADA News reported the decision on November 9, 2026. It thanked the dentists, sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and volunteers behind all three versions.

The 2026 Scientific Session ran October 8–10 at the Indiana Convention Center. It is now the last American Dental Association annual meeting on the books.

The ADA House of Delegates is not part of the pause. The association's policy-making body will keep meeting in person every year. The ADA's future meetings page states the same exception.

Why Is the ADA Pausing Its Annual Conference?

The ADA pointed to two internal changes – a bylaw amendment and a governance review.

The ADA Bylaws no longer require the association to hold an annual scientific session. The ADA is also running a governance and organizational health evaluation. The announcement gave no financial reason.

The bylaw change explains the 2026 meeting. In 2025, an ADA member email said governance rules required an annual scientific session, Dentistry33 reported. The redesigned Scientific Session met that rule. Once the rule was removed, the ADA had no obligation to hold another.

The meeting has changed shape three times in 18 months.

• May 22, 2025, the ADA announced that SmileCon will end after its 2025 event.

• October 23–25, 2025, the final SmileCon takes place in Washington, D.C.

• October 8–10, 2026, the ADA holds a redesigned Scientific Session in Indianapolis.

• November 9, 2026, ADA News reports the annual meeting pause.

In its 2025 announcement, the ADA said SmileCon attendance never rebounded to pre-COVID levels. It also cited the rising cost of holding events. The ADA has not linked those pressures to the November 2026 decision.

What Does This Mean for Dentists and Continuing Education?

The pause changes where some dentists earn CE hours. The ADA has not announced any cuts to its CE programs.

License renewal still requires CE hours, and each state sets its own number. The ADA Continuing Education hub lists state requirements next to its course catalog. It offers more than 300 online courses, plus live webinars and workshops. Members can subscribe for $219 a year.

Dentists who earned credits at past meetings should save those records now. The ADA's Scientific Session page lets attendees confirm CE from the 2022 to 2026 meetings.

State and local dental associations will carry more of the load. The ADA says it will keep working with them on CE and professional connection. JADA also offers CE credit, as covered in this roundup of dental journals. Clinical updates keep arriving too, such as the 2026 ADA clinical guidelines on bitewing selection.

The exhibit hall is harder to replace. Practices used it to compare imaging, AI tools, and dental treatment plan software in one trip. Those comparisons now move to regional shows, vendor demos, and independent reviews. A survey on technology adoption among dental professionals covers part of that ground.

Will the ADA Annual Meeting Return?

The ADA has not announced a restart date or a replacement national conference.

No ADA annual meeting 2027 date, city, or format has been published. Headlines calling the ADA annual meeting canceled go further than the ADA. Its wording is paused until further notice.

The ADA says it will explore new ways to engage members, the dental community, and industry. It has not described what those will be.

Bottom Line

The ADA annual meeting is paused until further notice after the October 2026 Scientific Session. The House of Delegates still meets each year, and ADA online CE remains open. For now, dentists should plan 2027 CE through state associations and online courses.