Between the conferences, meetings, and numerous booths, a visit to the ADF Congress requires a bit of planning to be truly beneficial to your practice or group of clinics. The 2026 event will take place November 24–28 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, with an exhibition open free of charge to healthcare professionals starting Wednesday, November 25, at 9 a.m. This article will help you prepare your registration, plan your itinerary, and leave with concrete ideas to implement in your practice.

Dates, Location, and Registration: Practical Information for the 2026 ADF Conference

Here are some practical details to help you plan your visit. Before setting aside a few days in your calendar, be sure to check the key dates, registration procedures, and access information directly on the conference’s official website.

Dates and location: the Palais des Congrès in Paris

For this edition, the event will take place at Porte Maillot, in Paris’s 17th arrondissement. The exact address to enter in your calendar or navigation app is: 2 Place de la Porte Maillot, 75017 Paris.

Here’s something to keep in mind when planning your trip: the event begins on Tuesday, November 24, but the exhibition doesn’t open until the following morning. If your priority is to meet exhibitors or explore the solutions on display at the show, plan to arrive on Wednesday morning or later. If you’d like to take advantage of the program as soon as it begins, be sure to set aside Tuesday as well. Since the detailed schedule is subject to change, be sure to check it before booking your transportation or accommodations.

This venue houses both the conference spaces and the trade show within the same building. This layout makes it easy to move from a scientific session to a meeting at a booth, but the distances involved can be considerable during a busy day. Be sure to allow some time between activities and make a note of the exact floor, room, or booth number you’re heading to.

With these guidelines, you'll be able to choose the days that best suit your goals and limit your time away from the office to what is absolutely necessary.

Registration and Access: Free admission for healthcare professionals

A badge is required to enter the exhibition. You can request one in advance on the official ADF registration page. We recommend completing this online process to ensure faster entry and avoid waiting in line upon arrival.

If you are unable to pre-register, on-site registration will be available on Level 0 of the Palais des Congrès. The registration desks will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Before finalizing your visit, determine what type of access you need:

1. The exhibition hall access badge allows you to meet with exhibitors. The scientific program requires separate registration and a fee. If you wish to attend the relevant conferences or workshops, please select the appropriate option when you register.
2. Please keep your badge with you throughout your visit. You will need to show it at the entrance, even if you return on multiple days.

Finally, since the exhibition is reserved for healthcare professionals, children under 16 are not permitted to attend.

Scientific Program and Continuing Education: 400 speakers and about 100 sessions

The ADF 2026 scientific program brings together approximately 400 speakers and more than 100 sessions covering the full range of dental disciplines. Lectures, hands-on workshops, clinical demonstrations, and interactive sessions allow you to combine updating your knowledge with learning that can be directly applied in your practice.

The detailed schedule has been posted gradually since June 2026 on the event's official website, which is linked at the beginning of this article. To plan a useful itinerary without overloading your schedule:

1. Identify two or three priorities related to your practice, such as prevention, a clinical protocol, or the organization of your practice.
2. Select sessions based on their format: a lecture to gain some perspective, or a workshop or demonstration to practice a specific method.
3. Check the eligibility or validation requirements if your goal is to fulfill a continuing education requirement. Attending the event does not mean that all sessions are automatically eligible for CME. Review the details for each session and, if necessary, check your account onthe National CME Agency’s website.
4. Set aside some free time to talk with the speakers and make a note of what you'd like to try out when you get back.

For each session you select, set a simple goal for yourself: a procedure to reassess, a tool to review , or an idea to share with your team. This preparation transforms a very intensive program into a truly practical training plan that you can apply directly to your daily work.

Some of these ideas can then be compared with the solutions presented in the international exhibition, where equipment, materials, and technologies can be explored and tested in practice.

The International Exhibition: Discover and Try Out the Latest in Dental Innovations

The international exhibition allows you to directly compare the latest innovations that could improve your practice’s organization and equipment. It brings together imaging solutions, digital tools, and management services all in one place. The official list of exhibitors helps you find companies by name or category before you visit.

To avoid wandering aimlessly through the trade show, plan your visits in two steps:

1. Select five to eight exhibitors based on the priorities you’ve already set for your visit, and set aside 20 to 30 minutes for each priority booth. Add their booths to your itinerary in the conference app, and then make sure to set aside some time to discover solutions you weren’t familiar with.
2. Test each tool using the same scenario. Request a demonstration based on a use case similar to your daily practice, then evaluate how long it takes to get started, integrations with your dental software, the support offered, the overall cost, and data processing practices.

A useful demonstration should allow you to explore the solution and ask questions relevant to your specific practice. For a tool that incorporates artificial intelligence, be sure to ask which tasks are automated, which decisions remain the responsibility of the practitioner, and how the data is stored. Under no circumstances is artificial intelligence in dental surgery intended to replace the practitioner.

A concrete example of how to apply this testing method: among the announced exhibitors, Allisone will be exhibiting in the “Imaging, Radiography, and IT” category at booth 3L02. There, you’ll be able to explore a digital tool designed to assist dentists, evaluate it against these criteria, and speak directly with the team.

This exercise will give you the information you need to compare the solutions in a structured way.

After each visit, immediately record three items: the problem addressed, the integration challenges, and the next planned step. This simple checklist will help you evaluate the solutions objectively and select only those that meet a real need in your practice. In addition to the technical exhibits, the conference also features the ADF Pavilion, dedicated to professional and administrative issues facing dental surgeons: insurance, setting up a practice, retirement, and more.

The ADF Pavilion: Planning and Resources for Dental Surgeons

The ADF Pavilion serves as a practical resource to help you navigate your career path. There, you can meet with members of the Social Security Commission and ask them questions about health insurance, setting up a private practice, coverage in the event of a work stoppage, retirement, or ceasing professional activity. Depending on your situation, you can also request personalized advice.

To make the most of this discussion, prepare two or three specific questions in advance. For example: Is your coverage still adequate after a merger or a change in legal status? What steps should you take before setting up your business? What should you check several years before you retire? Summarize your professional situation in writing to get more relevant answers, without bringing any unnecessary confidential documents.

The Pavillon also provides access to practical guides updated annually, designed to assist dental surgeons with their administrative procedures, from setting up their practice to the end of their career. The ADF also offers print and digital publications intended for the entire dental team. You can review information about the Pavillon on the event’s official website before your visit and identify the resources available on-site.

Planning Your Itinerary on Site: Must-See Presentations and Tour of the Trade Show

The presentations you shouldn't miss are, first and foremost, those that address a specific need of your firm. Since you've already defined your priorities and schedule in advance, use these practical guidelines as a reference on the day of the visit:

1. Follow the schedule that was set in advance. Stick to the planned transitions, and have a backup plan in case of schedule changes or a full room.
2. Group your visits by area of the trade show. Locate the booths related to your projects on the map: this will minimize back-and-forth travel and make it easier to plan your day.
3. Use your list of questions when speaking with the exhibitors. It was prepared in advance.

A photo of the materials, along with a three-line summary, will often be more useful than a collection of unsorted brochures. This way, you can keep track of each meeting without leaving with a heavy load.

If you’re attending as a group, divide up the conferences and exhibition areas among team members. For a group of clinics, for example, designate a clinical representative, an operational representative, and an IT representative, with each covering the sessions and booths in their respective fields. Then hold a brief joint debriefing at the end of the day: each lead should spend a few minutes summarizing the key takeaways, and you’ll leave with a short list of ideas to explore—each assigned to a specific person and a deadline—rather than a list that’s difficult to act on.

The next step is to turn this selection into decisions, tests, and concrete actions once we return.

Back to the Office: Concrete Steps for Taking Action

A conference becomes truly useful when you turn your notes into a simple, measurable action plan. As soon as you return, set aside 30 minutes to sort your findings into three categories: clinical practice, organizational structure and equipment, and digital solutions.

1. Within 48 hours, share the key takeaways with your team and explain the expected benefits for patients or for the practice's operations.
2. Over the next month, test a single, small-scale change: a new procedure, equipment, onboarding protocol, or digital tool. Plan for any training your team may need.
3. At the end of the test, evaluate the results based on concrete criteria, such as feedback from your team and how well it fits into the patient journey.

For a group of clinics, start with a pilot site before considering a broader rollout. Also, keep the contact information for useful speakers and vendors so you can request additional documentation or a demonstration.