Trustee Report – March 2022

Greetings from sunny Washington, DC. As I write this, I am traveling home from a few days lobbying Congress for things that are important to pediatric dentists and, more importantly, to the oral health of all children. As Trustee I am privileged to represent our SWSPD membership to the AAPD Board of Trustees in many ways. Since my last newsletter, I have participated in board meetings at both the national and district level, attended the amazing SWSPD Ski Meeting and the Pediatric Oral Health Advocacy Conference. 

AAPD Board of Trustees Report

Some of the important work going on in our Academy involves clarifying best practices through evidence-based dentistry, cleaning up insurance codes that we use, improving our practices through defining safety protocols, participating in developing a new fellowship in Special Needs Dentistry, and advocating for children’s health.

One of the items that the Board has discussed involves how to engage with AAPD’s Affiliate Members. In case you are not familiar with this, Affiliate Members are dentists who are not pediatric dentists, or any other specialty recognized by the ADA. I have heard much discussion for and against any type of recognition for general dentist members. The issue involves strategies for providing optimal oral health for all kids and our dual roles as the specialty organization for pediatric dentistry and as the individuals charged with championing oral health for all children, not just our patients. We have all had concerns about people preying on children with poor and dangerous techniques, or marketing themselves in a way that confuses the public. However, we are the organization most capable of training all dentists to treat children and do so in dental schools. Add to this the fact that general dentists treat around 80% of all children in the US; it is a complex issue that has resulted in quite a bit of emotion and misinformation. My role is to represent the SWSPD to the AAPD Board and I personally see both sides of the issue and will not pick a side independent of the SWSPD Board of Directors recommendations. In case this creates stress for you, let me lay out the process. The Affiliate Member Committee was charged with investigating an “Affiliate Track.” They are led by a general dentist from Texas, Vanessa Carpenter, whose husband is AAPD Past President, Joe Castellano. Her committee will make recommendations to the AAPD Board of Trustees who will decide to accept or reject any proposal(s). If this moves forward, the proposal(s) to make any changes will come before the General Assembly of the AAPD. This process puts the power to make any changes in the hands of the whole membership, not some small group behind closed doors. The earliest that this issue would be addressed is at next year’s AAPD Annual Session in Orlando. So if you’re passionate one way or the other, please make your voice heard at the General Assembly. More details of the meeting can be found in the meeting minutes published on the website of the AAPD under Members/Governance. 

POHAC

This year’s Pediatric Oral Health Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC was the first time back since Covid. It is always a great event to meet and learn about ways we have asked our federal government to help us take care of kids. The requests the group made to Congress were not just about money for faculty student loans. The Dental Faculty Loan Repayment program has helped us get graduates with student loans to spend 5 years as faculty in order to get their loans repaid. The “Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act” is a request to require insurance companies to pay the cost of medically necessary treatments, including dental, for people with congenital anomalies. Lastly, we are asking our Senators and Representatives to write letters urging CMS to add codes to get hospitals reimbursed for dental care and to open the doors to surgical centers as a way to gain more access to OR time. Since the Dental Director is a pediatric dentist we have a listening ear at CMS, but progress is slow. One of the things I learned at the conference that was a surprise is that de gal pain is one of the top reasons that opioids are prescribed. Mostly in Eds to non-covered adults. Interestingly, if we do our jobs training our patients to care for themselves, it might have a significant effect on the opioid epidemic. If you’re interested in these types of things, the complete conference materials are available on the AAPD website under the Grassroots Advocacy section 

Annual Session

San Diego is our next stop. We anticipate a big meeting since we can finally be together again. One of my favorite aspects of our specialty is the camaraderie we develop. Zoom is nice but being face-to-face is what we really enjoy. The conversations before and after lectures have been some of the most impactful ways my career has progressed. I hope you’ll plan to be there to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of our specialty! 

Ski Meeting 

The Winter Ski Meeting in Vail was amazing. The speakers were awesome with a mix of practice management, self-management, technical dentistry and tons of fun. Ryan and Julie Roberts and Michelle Jacobi do a fantastic job planning the meeting. Next year is in Telluride. If you love to ski, love to have fun and hang out with new and old friends I highly recommend coming. 

Submitted by Jeff Rhodes, SWSPD AAPD Trustee