ADA Membership: Vital to Our Profession

Early in my dental career, my boss emphasized the importance of ADA membership for maintaining our professional status. He believed so strongly that he covered my membership costs. At the time, I didn't see the value, but a few years later, I needed help . Organized dentistry was there for me and I was able to turn my life around. Since then, I've dedicated my career as a practicing dentist to advancing the profession through leadership roles in MDDS, CDA, and ADA.

We are the driving force behind progress in the dental profession, and I commend all the leaders nationwide who are contributing.

The ADA needs your support to uphold our professional standing. If you're already a member, thank you. Please encourage your colleagues to join.

Practice owners, be a member and consider covering membership costs for your associates. Young and mid-career dentists, be a member and actively shape your career path.

We may not always be perfect or agree on everything, but we all desire a fulfilling life and the ability to provide the best care for our patients and communities. A unified voice in advocacy has never been more crucial. Science, practice, education, practice models, benefits. 

Every practicing dentist benefits from the ADA's work. We are the proud voice of the practicing dentist.  

https://www.ada.org/join-the-ada

Why Don't We Just Write the Beginning?

Many of us have wonderful ideas for change that can improve the world, our communities, or even our own lives. We envision creating something new, disrupting the norm, or establishing a niche. We become energized by these ideas, talking, writing, and dreaming about a brighter future.

Sadly, for most of us, this is where it all ends. When it's time to take that brave step forward and create a plan, we get stuck. Internally, negative self-talk takes over. Externally, naysayers emerge, voicing their doubts and negativity. These voices, both internal and external, are powerful and can easily derail progress.

Whenever a disruptor enters the market, the status quo pushes back, doing everything in its power to challenge or stop the disruption. Many people are comfortable with the status quo and would rather stay in their comfort zone than embrace the possibility of something different, even if it could be better.

Change is hard.

Change disrupts our routines,

Change creates uncertainty,

Change is often inconvenient.

Change is constant and unpredictable - it's the one thing in life that is always certain.

Recently, a friend and I were discussing a big idea for change. We imagined all the possibilities and amazing outcomes that could result from it. But then we started to doubt ourselves, wondering what the naysayers would say, where we'd find the resources, who would help, and who would try to stop us. We were talking ourselves out of moving forward.

That's when it hit me: "Why don't we just write the beginning?" We don't need to have the ending figured out. We can create a plan, knowing it will be a rough road and that nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. This simple shift in perspective helped us return to a place of creativity and courage.

This is a courageous path, and when striving for something big, we need to find ways to stay courageous. We don't have to do it alone.

As Johann Wolfgang van Goethe said, "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness...the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too."

Deny, Delay, Depose

The recent murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson has shaken our society.

This high profile CEO gets gunned down in cold blood in plain sight. I am constantly searching my "go-to" news outlets for updates on the pursuit of his killer.

Surprisingly, the reaction on social media has been completely unsympathetic to his unfortunate demise.

"Deny", "Delay", "Depose" - words written on the shell casings of bullets found at the murder scene tell a story - Our insurance system is broken.

No one is happy with medical or dental insurance. Not the doctors, not the patients. And it has reached a threshold where someone commits this brazen act.

The American Dental Association, along with every other healthcare organization in the United States has been advocating for change in the insurance industry for decades. We have moved the needle some, but the fact remains - there has been little impact to make it better.

Doctors and dentists have taken the brunt of the anger from patients as we are the only ones that have direct patient contact. In fact, there have been several instances of violence or threat of violence from angry patients directed at my colleagues due to displaced anger regarding their insurance benefits.

We constantly get the "Deny, Delay, Disallow, Depose, etc." for procedures and treatments that, to us, are obviously medically necessary. We spend hours of effort to negotiate through the red tape insurance companies put up. Sometimes, it feels like they put up these barriers just to wear us out, so we eventually stop fighting.

I can only imagine that the killer experienced these denials, delays, etc., personally, and it resulted in an unnecessary death. If this is true, I am sure he feels justified in what he did.

I imagine that the millions of people who are expressing outrage have had similar experiences.

It is time for the insurance industry to change.

And for the record... I do not condone gun violence in any form.

#theadventurecontinues #anythingispossible #sober #ADApresident #ADAchangemakers @americandentalassociation #thinkdifferent #OralHealthIsHealth #theygolowIgohigh