ADA Wins in 2025

• Helped advocate for fluoridation at the federal, state and local level, successfully convincing most legislatures to reject proposals to end or limit community water fluoridation.
  • Advocated for Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and seven other co-sponsors to develop and introduce the Protect our Treatment for Enamel, Erosion and Tooth Health Act (TEETH Act). The measure would require the EPA to commission an independent, rapid-response evidence review from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine before proposing updated fluoridation recommendations.
  • Stood up in support for fluoride supplements at the FDA’s public meeting organized by the Reagan Udall Foundation to defend fluoride access for children.
  • Filed an amicus brief in support of the EPA. The EPA disagrees with the court’s decision that water fluoridation may present an unreasonable public health risk and focuses on the clear legal errors the trial court made in reaching its decision, requiring reversal. The ADA and the EPA are urging the court to reverse the decision from September 2024.
  • Supported 22 states facing legislation to end or limit fluoridation, with 16 of them rejecting the proposal and the remaining states taking no further action in 2025.

• Released the 2025 Fluoridation Facts e-book, a free resource to help bring science-backed information into fluoride conversations. The e-book has been accessed more than 55,000 times.
• Provided information on ADA social channels about the safety and efficacy of fluoride — great for sharing with patients, the general public and even lawmakers. Like, love, share or DM us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.

• Introduced or supported 26 bills at the federal level during 2025 to expand the oral health care workforce, enhance access to care and improve the dental insurance landscape. Advocated to keep 22 federal rules and regulations reasonable, effective and evidence-based to safeguard providers and their practices.
• Helped ensure that ”The One Big Beautiful Bill” included tax wins for dental practices, including the full restoration of the pass-through entity tax deduction, a permanent 20 percent small business income deduction, a restoration of full bonus depreciation, new domestic research deductions and a 21 percent corporate tax rate.
• Reintroduced federal legislation to prevent dental insurers from limiting “non-covered services” provisions in dental and vision plans. It is unreasonable for dental plans to set fees for services in which the plans have no financial liability, and this bill would stop insurers from interfering in the non-plan service to a patient not covered by the plan. The ADA has successfully encouraged 93 cosponsors of the bill H.R.1521 or the DOC Access Act of 2025.
• Partnered with the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), a membership organization made up of state legislators focused on insurance issues. This has resulted in the Council’s promotion of several dental insurance reforms; the 2025 campaign resulted in the Council embracing the ADA’s proposed change to their Virtual Credit Card provision in the 2020 Transparency in Dental Benefits Contracting Model Act.
• Supported a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that passed Congress, strengthening accreditation standards for military dental treatment facilities to help ensure the highest standard of care for our service members.
• Sent a letter to Metlife seeking clarification of its practices, causing MetLife to change its recoupment policy.
• Supported state dental societies in successfully passing three new laws on dental loss ratio in 2025, bringing the number of states with recent enactments up to 13. With ADA support, both strategic and financial, state dental societies were successful in 40 dental insurance reform campaigns in 2025.

• Encouraged policy allowing for internationally trained dentists who pass the hygiene boards to be licensed as hygienists, with Massachusetts and Connecticut enacting such legislation.
• Authored the Dental Access Model Act at ALEC, leading to Arizona’s authorization of the training and practice of Oral Preventive Assistants and other states considering similar legislation based on the model act.
• Helped remove barriers for dentists in 12 states by supporting the enactment of legislation to participate in the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact (DDH Compact), furthering license portability for dentists and hygienists.

• Introduced the new ADA Living Guideline Program, a set of regularly updated, individual guideline recommendations produced by proactively and continuously monitoring new evidence and data.
• Received $10.99 million to advance oral health research, making the ADA Forsyth Institute the fourth-highest NIDCR-funded U.S. dental institution during the 2024 fiscal year.
• Completed the updated radiography clinical recommendations, Radiology Patient Selection for Dental Radiography and Cone-Beam Computed Tomography, published in January 2026.
• Relaunched and expanded the ADA Qualified Testing Site Program, designating top-tier dental research institutions as independent testing facilities, helping to establish a premier network of clinical and laboratory excellence. These sites operate under rigorous guidelines to conduct unbiased evaluations of OTC oral care products.
• Revised all 21 ADA Seal of Acceptance product categories to improve clarity in product requirements, data and testing standards. These updates streamline the submission process and enhance consistency throughout the program.
  
   

• Digitized our ADA Dentist State Well-Being Programs Directory, making it easier than ever to find peer support and wellness resources to support dentists during times of need.
• Expanded free access to the Well-Being Index, an anonymous, validated risk assessment invented by Mayo Clinic for healthcare professionals, to all dentists, specialists, students (dental and dental team member students) and dental team members.
• Supported states that were recognized by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation as a WellBeing First Champions for auditing and removing stigmatizing language about mental health conditions and treatment in initial and renewal licensure applications.
  
   

• Introduced 80+ new CE courses, adding to a library of over 500 hours of courses. New CE explores topics including infection control, fluoride, cannabis, coding, oral cancer and endodontics.
• Launched the ADA CE online course DEA MATE Act Opioid Prescriber Compliance Training (Self-Guided E-Learning Course) in July 2024. In 2025, the ADA issued 24,255 CE credits for this course alone. Learn more at ADA.org/opioids.
• Connected more than 5,000 dentists and dental professionals at SmileCon® 2025, resulting in 18,431 CE credits earned. Partnered with DC Dental to deliver their annual Symposium in conjunction with SmileCon, expanding access to research-driven continuing education for dentists and their teams in the region. Announced the launch of the ADA 2026 Scientific Session in Indianapolis Oct. 8–10.

• Introduced CDT 2026 featuring an unprecedented 60 changes, including 31 new codes, enabling dentists and staff to more accurately document and report procedures. Changes include new and revised codes for administration of anesthesia; collection, preparation and analysis of saliva testing; duplication of complete denture; testing for a cracked tooth; photobiomodulation therapy; scaling and debridement implant presence of peri-implantitis and more.
• Launched the ADA Delegated Credentialing Service in early 2025, powered by the LightSpun platform, to leverage artificial intelligence and automation technology. This helps solo, group practices and dental service organizations streamline back-office processes. The platform seamlessly integrates with CAQH®’s Provider Data to automate credentialing, provider data management and insurance application services. Learn more about credentialing at ADA.org/credentialing.

• Named Alliant Insurance Services Inc. as the new broker for member insurance. ADA Insurance Brokered by Alliant, underwritten by Protective, offers competitive coverage exclusively for dentists and dental students. Insurance types include term life, level term, universal life, disability income protection, critical illness and more. ADA student members also receive term life and disability coverage.
• Launched ADA Credit Union, offering member-exclusive banking and financial services tailored to dentists and dental professionals. This collaboration reinforces the ADA’s commitment to supporting members’ financial well-being and the unique needs of dental practices.
• Launched new offers through ADA Member Advantage featuring top-quality products and services for your practice and personal life. BaseKamp Design are your experts in dental website design and marketing support. The newly re-launched ADA TV+ is designed to educate and built to engage your patients. onDiem connects dental practices with fully verified, experienced dental professionals, including hygienists, assistants and front office staff.

Look back at 2024's accomplishments for even more wins: