Trustee Report – October 2021

AAPD Trustee Report

Greetings from Arkansas,

My name is Jeff Rhodes and I am honored to serve as the new AAPD Trustee for SWSPD. I am following Dr. John Fales, who was an amazing Trustee and served us well. He set the bar very high and I appreciate all he has done for our profession and the patients we serve.

I am originally from Texas, went to Baylor, and now practice in Arkansas. My desire is to see all pediatric dentists have the rewarding career I have enjoyed and to find ways to help our profession through some very disruptive times. At the end of the day it’s still all about the kids and supporting those who choose to serve them.

Speaking of disruptive times, it seemed for awhile that life was returning to normal after the lockdowns and dental practices were picking back up in busyness. Then the Delta Variant slipped in and sent folks back to wearing masks and social distancing like before. When something like this occurs, it is tough on the no-show rate. Couple that with increased labor costs, and material costs, and dentists need to be focused on being good businesspersons. Thankfully the leaders of organized dentistry have demonstrated that dental care is indeed essential care and new shutdowns seem unlikely.

The AAPD Board of Trustees (BOT) met in May and with help from the AAPD staff in Chicago worked on our behalf to advocate for issues important to pediatric dentists. You may already be aware, but there are lots of special interest groups who would like to promote themselves at the expense of our patient population. Without reserve, the AAPD is an amazing authority on all things pediatric dental and tirelessly seeks to clarify questionable areas and set standards of excellence on behalf of our patients and our profession.

This is an exciting time in the life of the AAPD. We will celebrate our 75th Anniversary at the Annual Meeting in May in San Diego. Having recently been re-recognized as a specialty for the next 10 years, we are set to have a lot to revel in. The AAPD is committed to having an in-person meeting and the San Diego meeting promises to be very special. The BOT is well aware of the social needs of pediatric dentists and have designed a great agenda for the meeting. I look forward to seeing many of you there and hope that you participate in the SWSPD Caucus.

An issue important to all of us concerns access to hospital time. The AAPD along with the ADA and AAOMS have asked CMS, the people who administer Medicaid among other programs, to approve increased fees to hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers for dental rehabilitation procedures. One of the issues cited by hospitals is low reimbursement for dental cases compared to other types that are often shorter. This will be a slow process but should yield some good results.

The BOT approved a Background & Intent statement for the Policy on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The guideline on abuse and neglect is being written jointly with the American Academy of Pediatrics. We are fortunate to have a diverse profession, and there is always room for more improvement. The BOT is leading in steps to be obvious and clear about our desire to be inclusive.

The workgroup revising the Policy on Obstructive Sleep Apnea felt that a screening form would be helpful. That is being developed and will be available in the resources section of the AAPD website once completed. The BOT also began steps to create a Special Interest Group for Sports Dentistry.

In order to be informed by research and consensus, the BOT voted to reaffirm the AAPD position on CDT code D1355—caries preventive medicament application, per tooth: without solid scientific evidence, the AAPD does not support the use of the code D1355 for use of SDF as a primary preventive agent in children.

The BOT is increasing collaboration between Residencies and the Early Career Pediatric Dentist Committee to provide greater support for our colleagues in their first 10 years of practice. A great start with support is a great goal for our AAPD to have.

There are some great opportunities for CE coming up. The SWSPD is hosting a live, 2-hour, virtual course on November 4th – “Dentistry and the Use of Controlled Substances,” presented by Jacqueline M. Plemons, DDS, MS. This course should meet the controlled substances CE requirement many states have enacted, check with your state board to be sure. Additionally, SWSPD’s annual Winter Ski Meeting will be in Vail January 30 – February 4, 2022. Go to swspd.org for more information on these courses and to get registered!

My role as District Trustee is to represent the interests of the members of the SWSPD to the AAPD Board of Trustees. I look forward to getting to know you. If you have any questions or concerns that I can help you with, please let me know.

See you in Vail!
Jeff Rhodes