Greater New York Dental Meeting 2026: The Largest Dental Conference in the US

The Greater New York Dental Meeting (GNYDM) is the largest dental conference in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Now in its 102nd year, GNYDM 2026 brings together 30,000+ dental professionals from 130+ countries, 450+ exhibitors, and hundreds of CE courses at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Pre-registration is free — making it the most accessible major dental event in the country.

GNYDM 2026 At a Glance

Dates	November 27 – December 1, 2026 (Friday–Tuesday)
Location	Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 11th Ave, New York, NY 10001
Attendance	30,000-33,000 dental professionals (peaked at 53,000+ in 2012)
Exhibitors	450+ companies
Countries	138+ represented
CE Courses	300+ seminars, workshops, and hands-on courses
Registration	gnydm.com — FREE pre-registration
Organized by	New York County Dental Society & Second District Dental Society

What Makes GNYDM the Largest

GNYDM's unique model — free pre-registration with no attendance fee — removes the cost barrier that limits other conferences. This drives the highest raw attendance of any dental meeting in the US. The result is an exhibit hall of unmatched scale: 450+ companies spanning every category of dental technology, materials, equipment, and services. For dental professionals evaluating solutions, GNYDM lets you see more vendors in one place than any other event.

The international attendance (138+ countries) also makes GNYDM uniquely diverse. Live patient demonstrations, multilingual sessions, and a global speaker lineup reflect this reach.

GNYDM 2026 Schedule

GNYDM 2026 runs five days, Friday, November 27 through Tuesday, December 1 — spanning the weekend after Thanksgiving into the following week. The long format gives the meeting its scale, but it also means you should plan which days you attend rather than assuming you can see everything:

• Opening weekend (Fri–Sun) — CE courses and hands-on workshops begin; the exhibit hall opens. The weekend is the most-attended stretch, when the floor and headline courses are busiest.
• Early week (Mon–Tue) — Programming continues at a calmer pace. A good window for unhurried exhibitor conversations and product demos if you can extend your stay.

Because Thanksgiving Day falls inside the meeting, build your travel around the holiday and register for hands-on workshops early — limited-enrollment courses fill before the doors open. The live course catalog is published at gnydm.com.

Education & CE Credits

• 300+ CE courses — seminars, hands-on workshops, live patient demonstrations
• Clinical tracks — implantology, endodontics, orthodontics, periodontics, pediatric, oral surgery
• Practice management — AI adoption, staffing, workflow optimization, patient communication, DSO strategies
• Digital dentistry — CAD/CAM, 3D printing, intraoral scanning, guided surgery
• Hands-on workshops — limited enrollment, equipment provided

Key Topics & Industry Drivers at GNYDM 2026

GNYDM's course catalog and exhibit floor track the forces reshaping dental practices nationally:

• AI in the front office — voice AI receptionists, automated recall, and insurance verification, driven by a front-desk staffing shortage felt across every market.
• DSO operations at scale — centralized scheduling and multi-location workflow management for the dense DSO and group-practice presence in the Northeast.
• Digital workflows — intraoral scanning, same-day restorations, guided surgery, and 3D printing continuing to move chairside.
• Serving a multilingual patient base — patient communication tools that handle multiple languages, reflecting both NYC and GNYDM's 138-country attendance.
• Implantology and clinical innovation — live patient demonstrations remain a GNYDM signature, with new techniques shown in real time.

How GNYDM's Free Pre-Registration Works

GNYDM's defining feature is that pre-registration is free — there is no general attendance fee for the meeting or the exhibit hall. You register in advance at gnydm.com, which gets you a badge for all five days. Individual hands-on workshops and certain ticketed CE courses carry their own fees, and those seats are limited, so register and book courses the same day. Pre-registering also lets you skip on-site registration lines, which matter at an event this size. The whole dental team — dentists, hygienists, assistants, and front office staff — can pre-register, and there is no membership requirement to attend.

Exhibit Hall

GNYDM's exhibit hall spans multiple floors of the Javits Center — the largest dental exhibit in the US. Major exhibitors include Dentsply Sirona, Henry Schein, Align Technology, Planmeca, and hundreds of dental technology, AI, and practice management vendors. The scale means you can evaluate AI receptionists, PMS integrations, digital imaging, and patient communication platforms all in one trip.

Live Patient Demonstrations — A GNYDM Signature

One feature sets GNYDM apart from every other US dental meeting: live patient treatment demonstrations. Rather than lecturing from slides, leading clinicians perform real procedures on real patients while attendees watch the workflow unfold and ask questions in real time. Implant placement, restorative, and surgical demonstrations are recurring draws. For a clinician deciding whether to adopt a new technique or technology, seeing it performed start to finish — including how the operatory and team are set up around it — is far more useful than a recorded case. If you are attending GNYDM for clinical CE, the live demonstration schedule is worth building your days around; seats are limited and the most popular sessions fill quickly.

Making the Most of a Five-Day Meeting

GNYDM's scale is its strength and its challenge. A practical plan: register and book ticketed workshops the day registration opens; pick two or three exhibit-hall priorities rather than trying to walk every aisle; schedule vendor demos for the quieter early-week days when product teams can give you real time; and decide before you leave home which days the whole team attends versus which days the practice stays partly staffed. Treating the meeting as a planned itinerary rather than a five-day wander is the difference between coming home with decisions made and coming home with a tote bag of brochures.

Practical Details

• Venue: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 11th Ave, New York, NY 10001
• Transit: 7 Line to Hudson Yards or 34th Street, or A/C/E to 34th St–Penn Station + walk west
• Hotels: Midtown Manhattan and Hudson Yards hotels; book early — Thanksgiving week fills fast
• Timing note: GNYDM overlaps with Thanksgiving weekend — plan travel accordingly

What GNYDM Offers Solo and Small-Group Practices

For solo and small-group owners, GNYDM's free pre-registration and 450-exhibitor floor make it the most cost-efficient technology-evaluation trip of the year. Instead of scheduling separate vendor calls across months, an owner-dentist can compare AI front office tools, practice management systems, and imaging hardware side by side in one building and negotiate show pricing on the spot. The practice management track is built for this audience — staffing shortages, no-show reduction, scheduling, and AI adoption are recurring themes. For independents competing with DSO-backed offices that already run centralized, around-the-clock call coverage, the front-office automation on display is the most direct way to match that capacity without adding payroll. Because the badge is free, the only real cost is travel and the days away — which makes covering your phones while you are gone the variable that actually determines ROI.

While You're at GNYDM, Who's Answering Your Phones?

Five days in New York City — right over Thanksgiving weekend. Your practice may be closed for the holiday, but patients don't stop calling. Emergency inquiries, new patient requests, and appointment changes pile up. An AI receptionist answers every call, books appointments, and handles patient communication while you're at the Javits Center — so you return to a full schedule instead of a full voicemail box.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is GNYDM free to attend?

Pre-registration is free. This makes GNYDM one of the most accessible major dental conferences in the US. Some individual CE courses and workshops may have additional fees. Register at gnydm.com.

How big is GNYDM compared to other dental meetings?

GNYDM is the largest dental meeting in the US by attendance (30,000-33,000 in recent years, peaked at 53,000+ in 2012). For comparison: Yankee Dental draws 25,000-28,000, Hinman 23,000, CDS Midwinter 20,000+, and CDA Presents 17,000-18,500.

Should I plan around Thanksgiving?

Yes — GNYDM traditionally runs the week of Thanksgiving (Friday before through Tuesday after). This means Thanksgiving Day is in the middle of the conference. Plan flights and hotel accordingly — NYC hotel rates spike during this week. Many attendees combine the conference with holiday plans.

When and where is GNYDM 2026?

GNYDM 2026 runs Friday, November 27 through Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 11th Ave, New York, NY 10001, on Manhattan's West Side.

Do I need to be a dental society member to attend GNYDM?

No. GNYDM has no membership requirement and no general attendance fee — pre-registration is free and open to dentists, hygienists, assistants, front office staff, and dental students from any state or country. Only individual ticketed workshops and certain CE courses carry a fee.

Where should I stay for GNYDM 2026?

Most attendees stay in Midtown Manhattan or the Hudson Yards area near the Javits Center. Because GNYDM runs over Thanksgiving week, NYC hotel demand and rates are high — book as early as possible, and check the GNYDM website for any negotiated convention room blocks.