August 23, 2012
The American Dental Association (ADA) is offering dentists the opportunity to pre-order dental procedure coding books prior to them becoming available in October. These books have proven popular with ADA members who benefit from members-only discounts.
August 21, 2012
The ADA New Dentist Committee honored dentists for their achievements at the American Dental Association (ADA) 26th New Dentist Conference in Washington, D.C., this summer.
August 06, 2012
The Pew Center on the States’ recent report titled “Expanding the Dental Safety Net: A First Look at How Dental Therapists Can Help” follows up and in some ways reinforces the American Dental Association’s own recent economic studies that bring into question the viability of alternative workforce models. The ADA believes that both reports show that dental therapist models would take large financial commitments while returning questionable results. The Pew report noted that the modeling it examined “found modest effects” from deploying dental therapists in existing, fixed-site federally qualified health centers.
July 30, 2012
In the August issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association, the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Council on Scientific Affairs (CSA) presents an ADA report with recommendations for the safe use of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in dental practice.
July 27, 2012
The American Dental Association (ADA) recently named Dr. John S. Greenspan as the recipient of the 2012 ADA Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Dental Research in recognition of his landmark AIDS research.
July 27, 2012
The American Dental Association (ADA) is offering a new publication, The ADA Practical Guide to Patients with Medical Conditions, to help dentists deliver safe and coordinated care for patients with chronic medical conditions with a book that provides detailed references, images and expert advice from 25 academicians and clinicians.
July 25, 2012
The American Dental Association today released six reports examining the economic viability of three models of so-called "midlevel" dental providers, the Dental Health Aide Therapists (DHATs) currently providing care in Alaska Native territories, the Dental Therapists (DTs), currently working in Minnesota, and the proposed but as yet unrealized Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP). The reports raise serious questions about whether these midlevel provider models can sustain themselves economically.
June 29, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on the Affordable Care Act upholds the provisions establishing state health insurance exchanges and minimum benefit packages that include pediatric oral health care. This could expand dental coverage to millions of additional children, many of whom have suffered with untreated dental disease. The ADA advocated vigorously for increased children’s coverage, including how the “essential dental benefit” for children is defined, in the months leading up to the law’s passage and is grateful that it remains intact.
June 27, 2012
The American Dental Association appreciates the mounting media interest in what Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., famously called a “silent epidemic” of oral disease. Unfortunately, the situation has improved little since Dr. Satcher wrote those words in 2000. The needless suffering caused by untreated dental disease that could have been prevented or easily treated in its early stages is unacceptable. Coverage by PBS’s “Frontline” and other media can increase awareness of this ongoing tragedy and, we hope, the political will to do something about it.
June 25, 2012
Although headquartered in Chicago, the ADA has long maintained an office in Washington, DC, to better advocate on behalf of the nation’s oral health and the dental profession’s ability to serve the public. With the support of professional staff, ADA volunteer leaders work to ensure that Congress and the federal agencies understand the importance of oral health to overall health and wellbeing, and that the laws and rules they make and enforce help to improve the nation’s oral health, or at least do not harm it.