Health and Wellness

The program area previously known as the Dentist Well-Being Program has been renamed Dentist Health and Wellness. This ‘bigger umbrella’ covers support for our disabled dentists, some of our activities related to ergonomics and dental practice, and resources to help dentists be more proactive in looking at their own health and wellness. And we still have the resources we’ve always had for dentists with substance use and mental health disorders.

The single most valuable asset in any dental practice is the dentist. Optimal health and work-life balance aren’t the buzzwords of the week or touchy-feely luxuries; rather they are essential to the maintenance of the person(s) without whom the practice would cease to exist! 

• ADA Policy Statement on Dentist Health and Wellness (PDF)
• Learning About Addiction
• Watch Your Back 
• Viewpoint: Take a Lesson
• HBO Debuts Series on Addicition 

The practice of clinical dentistry is physically, mentally and emotionally demanding. Many dentists thrive on the challenges and benefits of dental practice. But for other dentists, things happen, circumstances change, life doesn’t always go according to plan.

When there are those ‘bumps in the road,’ the ADA is the place to turn for information. After all, no one knows dentistry better than the ADA!

ADA Health and Well-Being Newsletters

• Winter 2010 (PDF)
• Spring 2010 (PDF)
• Summer/Fall 2010 (PDF)

Staff Contacts

• Ms. Alison M. Siwek, manager
  Dentist Health and Wellness
  312-440-2622 or toll-free X2622
  e-mail: siweka@ada.org
• Ms. Mary Gilliam, senior project assistant
  Council on Dental Practice
  312-440-7473 or toll-free X7473
  e-mail: gilliamm@ada.org

For information on personal assistance, including referral information for state well-being committees, specialized treatment facilities or ADA resources, e-mail Ms. Alison Siwek.