President’s Message – May 2020

Greetings, fellow Southwesterners,

We are living and practicing in unprecedented times. Since the last writing of the newsletter column, our country has been shut down by the COVID-19 epidemic, most of our practices have been closed by Governor’ Mandates, and we have quarantined at home for weeks with our loved ones. As this newsletter reaches you, you are likely either in the process of re-opening your practice or are contemplating the logistics of how to open your practice in this new era of a pandemic. You have been bombarded with new and evolving information on a daily basis. Without question, you are trying your very best to protect your patients, your staff, and yourself from infection with recommendations from the CDC, ADA, AAPD, state and local mandates. You have become a leader in your office and in your community. To quote Winston Churchill, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity: an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Allow these challenges to drive a safe, customer-oriented, and even better practice for your patients. Furthermore, if you find yourself suited for leadership, join organized dentistry, and share your talents for the benefit of our specialty. These changes we are implementing, such as social distancing, enhanced PPE, and multiple pre-appointment screenings are challenging, but we can help each other by sharing our ideas and strategies. With that said, I would like to invite you to join us for our Virtual District Caucus on May 20th at 6:00pm CST. The virtual meeting will feature a discussion panel with our states’ PPA’s (Public Policy Advocates) to talk about significant issues affecting the states within our district. This is a great opportunity for you to share your successes & voice your concerns. Watch your email and swspd.org for a registration link!

Upcoming opportunities to connect with the SWSPD include the planned Sedation Meeting in Dallas on November 6-7, 2020, and the annual Ski Meeting in Vail on January 31–February 5, 2021. These meetings are about coming together and learning how to better serve our patients, team, and family. Not only do these meetings offer world-class speakers in an intimate environment, but they provide valuable time with your colleagues, many of whom have tackled those very issues that you are struggling with on a personal or professional level. Plus, they are loads of fun!

2020 SWSPD Annual Ski Meeting in Park City, Utah

This year’s ski meeting was a big success, and I would like to thank Ryan Roberts, our Ski Meeting Chairman, Julie Roberts, and Michelle Jacobi, our Executive Director for their tireless work on the meeting. Not only did they arrange a tremendous speaker line-up, but they even managed to provide perfect Utah powder for our week! With over 90 doctors and their families in attendance, it was one of the most well-attended meetings in SWSPD history. For those of you who have not yet attended a ski meeting, this is an immersive week led by worldrenowned speakers in their field in a very small venue. Time is allowed for questions at the end of each of the sessions, and our speakers are usually available to chat with attendees throughout the week. This is such a unique opportunity to gather cutting-edge information and exchange ideas with the very best clinicians and advisors in our specialty. This year, the broad range of topics included behavior management (Dr. Dennis P. Nutter), the HPV and oral pharyngeal cancer epidemic (Dr. Susan Maples), pediatric airway development (Dr. Soroush Zaghi), clinical growth and integration (Dr. Susan Maples), leadership within our practice (Flint Geier), profitable and proper business decisions (Chris Sands), airway issues and sleep compromise (Dr. Michael Gelb), early childhood expansion (Dr. Kevin Boyd) and an update on re-mineralizing agents (by our AAPD president, Dr. Kevin Donly). I would like to thank Pro-Fi 20/20, the Scheduling Institute, NuSmile, the AAPD Foundation, D4C Dental Brands, Doctors Disability Specialists, Kinder Krowns, and EmpathIQ for their generous support of this meeting.

Upcoming News and Events from the SWDPD

• November 6-7th, the SWSPD will host a meeting to include: 1) Pediatric Sedation, 2) Standards for Prescribing Controlled Substances & 3) Narcotics Record Keeping. The course will take place at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Our Continuing Education Chairperson, Janell Plocheck, is hard at work making plans for an on-site meeting, but a virtual option may be available if the pandemic dictates social distancing. The SWSPD will hold its annual business meeting in conjunction with this event. Stay tuned for more information. This meeting will satisfy Texas state sedation CE requirements.
• We are excited to announce that the 2021 SWSPD Annual Ski Meeting will be held in Vail, Colorado at the Hyatt Cascade Village Resort on February January 31 – February 5. Not only does this resort provide world class skiing right out the back door, but Vail is easy to travel to from almost any location in the US. We hope you will make plans to attend, as Ryan Roberts is securing another blockbuster speaker line-up for this year.

Southwest District Virtual Caucus: Wednesday, May 20, 6:00pm, CST

The AAPD’s annual meeting is just a couple of weeks away and it has never been easier for you to attend. This year’s meeting will be virtual, and your registration includes access to many incredible lectures. Please make plans to also attend the Southwest District Virtual Caucus. Attendance has never been easier, as you can grab your favorite beverage and hop on to our Zoom meeting at 6:00 CST. This is your opportunity to voice your concerns and provide our district and AAPD leadership with important information, as we learn from each other and move forward during these tumultuous times. Several of our state PPA’s and leaders will be on the discussion panel for the caucus and we hope to see as many of you as possible there. As we walk through the challenges that COVID 19 has presented us, please remember that we are a profession of like-minded people who are eager to help one another. You are not alone in your struggles to deliver care safely to those patients you love so much. We will get through this together.

Thank you,

Mary S. Fuselier, DDS
SWSPD President