Sessions and courses include:
• The opening session, COVID-19 and Beyond: Leading a Profession Through Uncharted Territory (EV01), scheduled for 5:30-6:15 p.m. CDT Oct. 15, will discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted dentists and the profession has bounced back. The panel will highlight the role of the American Dental Association in developing guidance for the safe delivery of dental care and reflect on what the future holds for dentists.
• The Essentialism of Oral Health: How Dentistry Fits Into an Evolving Healthcare Landscape (EV03), a live evening session from 5:30-6 p.m. CDT Oct. 16, will address how the ADA is proactively approaching the issue of dentistry as essential health care in state and federal health policy. The ADA Board of Trustees adopted an ad interim policy July 27 stating dentistry is essential health care to help guide advocacy for the dental profession during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
• The closing session, The Third Party Payer Landscape: How the ADA is Working for Dentists and the Public (EV07), scheduled for 5:30-6 p.m. CDT Oct. 17, will present new data on recent trends in dental benefits reimbursement and discuss what the ADA is doing to ensure third-party payer programs, both in the public and private sectors, are designed in a way that advances the oral health of the public.
• Dr. Frank Spear, co-founder and director of Spear Education, a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, that provides continuing education to dentists, will discuss how practices have successfully responded to the changes in dentistry brought about by the pandemic during his lecture, Only the Strong Survive: Harness Your Strength (034), from 11 a.m.-noon CDT Oct. 17. Dentists will have the chance to talk further with Dr. Spear during Chat with Speaker Frank Spear (041), scheduled for 2-3 p.m. CDT Oct. 17.
• Dental experts Dr. Lee Ann Brady, president and CEO of the Pankey Institute based in Key Biscayne, Florida; Dr. Gary DeWood, executive vice president of Spear Education; and Dr. Jose-Luis Ruiz, director of the Los Angeles Institute of Clinical Dentistry & Ruiz Dental Seminars Inc. in Burbank, California, will discuss clinical dentistry during Dental Powerhouse Panel: Current Clinical Topics in Dentistry (011) from 11 a.m.-noon CDT Oct. 16. Participants may submit questions in advance for the speakers, who will address the topics that are the most popular, particularly in this time of COVID-19. There are also speaker chats scheduled during the conference to give dentists the opportunity to ask additional questions and dive deeper into the content that interests them most.
All speaking events and continuing education courses are included in the virtual conference’s All-Access Pass, which is $199 for ADA members, $299 for nonmembers and other health care professionals, $119 for dental team members and guests, and $19 for dental students. Programming will be available both live and on demand. Only All-Access Pass holders can register for workshops, which are individually priced and only available live. The workshops will give participants hands-on practice with materials sent to them before the conference.
To view a complete list of conference events and courses or to register, visit ADA.org/meeting.