MEMBERSHIP
Quarterly WINTER 2022VOLVOL17 20/ ISSUE / ISSUE 3 2
Member Feature: BJ Peterson Elections Notice Dangerous Tooth Trends 1111 Har vard Avenue Seattle, WA 98122-4205 206.448.6620 www.skcds.org 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
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YOUR VISION, DELIVERED. C O N S TA N T I N E B U I L D E R S . C O M 2 l 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
WINTER 2022 Volume 20, Issue 3
Seattle-King County Dental Society Winter Quarterly
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contributors: Ms. Angela Bond Dr. Adam Kennedy Dr. Randy Ogata Dr. BJ Peterson Ms. Neha Mallick Dr. Al Munk
President’s Message...................................................................................5 From the Desk of Dr. Ogata ........................................................................6 Member Feature: Dr. BJ Peterson.............................................................. 8-9 2022-2023 Elective Office Openings..........................................................10 How a Dental Membership Plan Benefits Your Practice and Your Patients.........15 The Musings of a Dental School Hopeful…Dangerous Tooth Trends.............16-17 New Members ..........................................................................................17 SKCDS Leading on Hard Issues – An Interview with Your Leaders.............. 18-19 Dr. Munk........................................................................................................22
Publisher: Bill Newcomer, Vancouver, WA OFFICERS Dr. Adam Kennedy, President Dr. Christy Kirchner, President – Elect Dr. Austin Baruffi, Past President Dr. Ryan O’Connor, Treasurer Dr. Kim Trieu, Secretary EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Dr. Mark Egbert, Executive Council 2022 Dr. Lauren Ma, Executive Council 2022 Dr. Emily Yepez, Executive Council 2022 Dr. Kate Christian, Executive Council 2023 Dr. Elena Andronova, Executive Council 2024 Dr. Christine Shigaki, Executive Council 2024 Dr. Christopher Shuye, Executive Council 2024 Dr. Randy Ogata, Executive Director Contact and Change of Address: To ensure continued receipt of issues, change of address must be reported to: SKCDS Central Office , 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122-4205, as soon as possible Phone: 206.448.6620 | Fax: 206.443.9308. Email: skcds@skcds.com | website: www.skcds.org The information in this publication is for the exclusive benefit of Seattle-King County Dental Society members. Neither the Society nor the publisher makes any express or implied warranties as to the information herein, including the contents of any advertising. Opinions in The Quarterly do not necessarily express the official policies of the Seattle-King County Dental Society, nor the opinions of the editor, unless so stated. Publication of advertising is not an endorsement, qualification, approval or guarantee of either advertisers or product. For advertising and publishing details, contact: Mr. Bill Newcomer, 503.318.5916, bill@bncprinting.com
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Cover Photo: Give Kids a Smile at KidsQuest Museum 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
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Seattle King County Dental Society Staff
Executive Director: Dr. Randy Ogata randy@skcds.com
Membership and Administrative Manager: Angela Bond angela@skcds.com
CONTACT US Seattle King County Dental Society Central Office 1111 Harvard Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 | Phone 206.448.6620 • Fax: 206.443.9308 | Email: skcds@skcds.com • Website: www.skcds.org
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The
President’s Message
Moving Forward (Revisited) In the 2020 Winter Quarterly, Dr. Austin Baruffi opened with how impressed he was with our profession’s ability to adapt and thrive in the face of the pandemic. This sentiment continues to ring true in this new year. In a recent ADA HPI survey of dentists regarding the economic impact of COVID-19, 60.7% report their practice is “open and business as usual.” This is up from 38.5% from December of the previous year. It’s extremely encouraging, and this metric nicely illustrates dentists’ resilience. As we continue to push forward, Seattle-King County Dental Society strives for your success.
Throughout the month of February, your Foundation and Society is thrilled to be partnering with the KidsQuest Children’s Museum for National Children’s Dental Health Month and Give Kids A Smile! On Friday evenings, our member dentists have been performing basic pediatric oral health exams on-site to identify any problems and make recommendations to their parents or guardians. The hope is that if any of the children seen do not yet have a dental home, they will find one with one of you. And if the family already has a dentist that they love and trust, Dr. Adam Kennedy it’s an excellent reminder to make sure that next six-month check-up is on the books! During the rest of the week, the museum has incorporated a dental theme into all of their other activities. For example, at ‘Play with Clay’, visitors can practice their flossing techniques and at ‘Weekend Playshop’, participants will be using eggs to mimic the delicate enamel of teeth and see how certain beverage choices can impact the discoloration of the enamel over time. In a recent article in Dental Economics, Roger P. Levin DDS wrote, “Staffing is now the most critical issue facing dentistry.” It’s a multifaceted problem that we have been working diligently to address. In an effort to support the training of new dental assistants, WSDA has released a comprehensive list of videos that focus on the basics of dental assisting. This excellent resource can be found through a simple search on their website to complement in-person training. Shout out to the Washington Academy of General Dentistry for their efforts to bolster the workforce through their newly developed Dental Assistant School! We all appreciate the work you are doing! Like many of you, I’m ecstatic to be starting a new year. 2021 was challenging, but we accomplished incredible things. Let’s keep this momentum going. It has been an absolute honor to serve your Society. Sincerely,
Dr. Adam Kennedy
I am honored to serve as your Society’s President.
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Winter 2022
From the desk of Dr. Randy Ogata Executive Director
People are craving “normalcy” …so how do dentists mitigate risks and slowly help our profession, practices, and public “heal” and return to some form of the constantly heard about “new normal”. SKCDS just hosted Dr. Brett Ferguson as our Keynote speaker to kick off a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) series of lectures designed to help our members integrate DEI concepts into their lives, offices, and communities. The efforts of DEI will take some time to be understood and embraced globally. But this is a longterm commitment, with no easy bright red button to push and solve all the problems. This is a marathon that SKCDS is set to run for our community as we welcome the new generations of dental professionals who are learning and growing in a different environment than any of us ever did. The Point on the Map Workforce and membership are the two greatest concerns for SKCDS right now. Why is membership so important? SKCDS / WSDA / ADA are Tripartite membership service organizations that look out for the whole dental community’s best interests, so dentists can serve their patients with the least interference possible. After all, our patients must always remain our top priority as their care is the whole reason we entered in to this profession in the first place. Therefore, our members trust the Tripartite to collaborate with allied groups to help promote our profession, oral health, and raise awareness of resources in our communities. When these groups lobby at Olympia or Washington DC – it is important that what is represented is the core majority of our profession. Plotting a Path Forward Workforce is an ongoing problem and sadly, hoping the problem will just “solve itself” is not going to happen. Some of the contributing factors: educational system dysfunctions, early retirements, artificial barriers to licensure in WA, lack of interest in the profession, lack of access to resources, extending programs artificially, pricing the cost of education out of the reach of socio-economic groups, and the list goes on. What is SKCDS doing about this to help practices – we are looking at the stepping stones to workforce and that starts with students. We as a profession – not just the SKCDS – need to encourage high school students who don’t feel that college is the right path for them to think about a career in the dental profession as an assistant, front office, or back-office position. Something that I encouraged previously was for offices to actively keep an eye out from within your patient base – identifying patients who have the right aptitude, attitude and soft skills to be trained as assistants, scheduling and/or financial coordinators. In the meantime, we have heard that other programs are looking into expansion – when this happens, dentists should be promoting our profession so that all of the programs are running at maximum capacity. Dentists need to be deliberate in their actions and plan with a bias towards actions to systematically increase the dental workforce. It won’t happen by itself, or if only driven by organized dentistry, it will require all dentists to roll up our sleeves and work together. But remember this: appreciate your existing team. Appreciate the loyalty and the passion that already exists in your offices. It is easy to approach the problems with the workforce shortage by simply saying “feed the pipelines”. Do not ignore, or take for granted, the people you have standing with you now and ensure that they too feel valued in their positions. They are what, for some offices, is what stands between a problem and a crisis. It is an honor to serve OUR profession Honored to Serve as your Executive Director!
Dr. Randy Ogata 6 l 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
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DENTAL PRACTICE TRANSITIONS
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MEMBER FEATURE: Dr. BJ Peterson I was supposed to take over my family’s asphalt company. My dad had been training me for this position for years. I spent my summers during high school and college paving roads, and I planned to major in business. I would’ve been the third generation to own the family business. Sweating it out over the asphalt coals helped me gain construction skills and cover my college expenses, but I realized early on that I didn’t have a passion for it. I loved working with my hands and caring for people. Science was exciting to me, and I was already sold on the idea of doing something that allowed me to be my own boss, so I entered the University of Washington as an undergraduate with aspirations of becoming a medical doctor.
One night during my junior year, I was talking with my friend Jon about my future and questioning if becoming a physician was the right choice for me. “Why not become a dentist?” he asked. I dismissed his suggestion at the time, but the idea took hold. Volunteering at the UW Dental School as an undergraduate and shadowing several dentists who were family friends made it clear this was the right profession for me. Looking back on it, I think Jon knew dentistry would be a good fit for me, even if I couldn’t see it at the time. Sometimes others have a better perspective on your life than you do. Upon entering the UW School of Dentistry, I discovered that my talents, skills, and temperament matched with dentistry. I enjoyed it. The best part was that it didn’t feel like work to me. To pay for school, I joined the US Navy as part of the Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP). Upon graduation in 1999, I completed a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residency at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois. There were ten residents in the program from all over the country. You could really tell where your dental school was strong and where it was lacking, but by the end of the year, we were all better off than when we’d started and clinically calibrated. It was clear UW was a strong school and it had prepared me well for the program. After completing the AEGD residency, I still owed the US Navy three more years of service. I was given orders to Sasebo, Japan, where I worked as one of four dentists on the military base. My wife, Laura, and I enjoyed our time abroad, making many close friends—both military and Japanese—and experiencing the culture of our host country. We traveled extensively within Japan—everything from skiing at Happo One Ski Resort in Nagano to sightseeing in Kyoto to visiting hot springs in the countryside—and we also managed several trips to South Korea and Thailand. We were overseas during the 9/11 terrorist attacks and overnight, our tiny naval base went into full lock-down. Instead of flashing our military IDs to drive onto base, we stood in line awaiting a thorough search while covered by MPs carrying assault rifles. All commands had to relinquish 20% of their personnel overnight to augment security forces, so our dental clinic lost several dental assistants, technicians, and administrators. Dental officers like myself had to take on additional duties. Our base started running Weapons of Mass Destruction mass casualty drills and I was trained to serve as a mass casualty field officer. We ran base-wide drills with medical, security, and fire departments; learned evacuation logistics and disaster response protocols; and set up outdoor chemical decontamination sites. Thankfully, we never needed to put this training into practice, but having the experience was unexpected and invaluable. The Navy was good at pushing me outside my comfort zone and challenging me to take on more responsibility. I was made Division Officer for my local command and sent to MANDEV (management development) near Washington DC for two weeks. My experience with the Navy really grew me as a professional. After separating from the military in 2003, I went into private practice in Bellevue, purchasing the practice of Dr. Larry Bouma. He shared my Christian faith, ran his practice from his heart, and continues to be a wonderful mentor and friend.
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Another mentor and friend of mine was Dr. Jeff Parrish. In 2015, he asked me to help lead the dental team at the Seattle King County Clinic (SKCC). I was honored to be asked and connected with the mission to serve the underprivileged in our community. The SKCC is an amazing coordination with professionals from medical, dental, vision, IT, security, etc. all of whom are united to accomplish a mission they believe in. If you’re reading this and haven’t participated, I encourage you to do so. During my years in private practice, the most significant and rewarding change I’ve witnessed in dentistry relates to technology. Many private offices now have access to CBCT images and scanners, as well as higher strength and more aesthetic materials, which improve patient care. On the flip side, dentistry also faces many challenges. I see it becoming more insurance-driven rather than care-driven. Also, the escalating cost of dental-school tuition, the expense of purchasing and/or maintaining ever-evolving technology, and other similar factors lead me to believe dentistry is likely to shift towards models of practice that share resources to cut costs like multi-practitioner clinics,DSOs, and outsourcing certain business functions. However, one of the unspoken constants of the field are the people who enter into it … the ones with big hearts and a passion to serve. As I think back on my experiences, I’m extremely grateful for all the people who poured so much of themselves into my life and my career. I can’t thank them enough. The older I get, the more I realize just how important these relationships are and how vital a role they’ve played in my life. I can only hope others will one day say the same about me.
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2022-2023 Elective Office Openings The following leadership positions will be up for election in the coming month: President - Elect The president-elect will automatically become president in the year following the year in this position and serves on the Executive Council. The president-elect also holds a position on the following committees: Budget and Finance, Program, and serves as a Director on the Seattle-King County Dental Foundation. Executive Council – Two openings for three-year terms and one opening for a one-year term. Executive Council members meet approximately 10 times a year and always in the evening. This is the governing body of the Dental Society, and it is an excellent way to participate in the organization. Delegates to the WSDA - Up to seven* openings for three-year terms. This position represents the Seattle-King County Dental Society at the governing body of the Washington State Dental Association’s House of Delegates. Delegates must attend at least one—and ideally two—evening caucuses before each meeting of the House of Delegates. The delegates must also plan to attend the Washington State Dental Association’s House of Delegates meeting (usually held in September in a Thursday to Saturday block). *The number of Seattle-King County Dental Society Delegate seats for the WSDA House of Delegates is determined each year based on membership as of January 2022; therefore, we do not know at press time how many seats will be open. This change in how the seats are allocated was approved by the 2005 WSDA House of Delegates.
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Environment is a Tangible Element: Great Design Adds Value to your Practice. A well designed environment enriches the space in which you work, providing function, aesthetics, and economy. We offer comprehensive services from initial site research to grand opening, helping to simplify the complex process and provide doctors the resources to achieve their vision and create positive practice environments.
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FOR LEASE UNIQUE SITE FOR DENTAL PRACTICE 2400+ square feet encompassing 8 operatories, dental lab, staff lounge plus additional storage. 7 parking stalls adjacent to a beautiful garden with award-winning landscape design. All new electrical, plumbing, nitrous oxide/oxygen lines, HVAC. Ready for immediate occupancy. Easy walking distance to 10 different Metro bus lines and the First Hill Streetcar. Ideally located in the heart of the medical-dental community on First Hill, kitty-corner from The Polyclinic, this site has been known for the practice of dentistry for many decades. The triangle corner of Seneca Street/Harvard Avenue Union Street is perfect for displaying signage with high visibility. The owner, Dr. Bill Taraday, had a successful dental practice in this location for many years. For more information on his experience, contact him at (206) 295-5378. For lease terms and conditions, contact Rick Sanders at Orion Real Estate Advisors at (206) 321-5475. 14 l 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
How a Dental Membership Plan Benefits Your Practice and Your Patients Dental memberships are the perfect solution for practices looking to offer an in-house option to uninsured patients. Many practice owners implement a plan on their own before fully understanding the legal implications associated with offering an in-house plan as well as the administrative tasks that are placed on an already stretched-thin staff. Careington International Corporation is a dentist-founded and owned company that has been a discount plan industry leader for over 40 years. Careington’s Launch Loyalty team is comprised of membership plan experts, dedicated to providing full-service administration. Partnering with Launch Loyalty powered by Careington allows owners and staff to focus on patient care and running a successful practice while the membership experts work behind the scenes.
The Importance of Plan Administration Legal and Compliance It is essential to ensure plan compliance on both federal and state levels. Many administrators in the market don’t offer plan compliance, leaving a practice with costly legal fees. Launch Loyalty offers plan designs that are fully approved by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Launch Loyalty clients can rest assured knowing their plan is compliant with all state regulations. Automated Billing It is challenging to manage patient billing and renewals. Working with an administrator that ensures payment information is stored compliantly allows practices to automatically collect plan fees at the point of renewal. Launch Loyalty is set up to handle all billing and renewal needs for every client. Training Having your staff sufficiently trained on your program helps considerably. This ensures they are well prepared to speak with patients about the value of the plan. Launch Loyalty provides your staff with ongoing training through webinars, videos and meetings to discuss strategies for program performance. Marketing Customized marketing communications are a key contributor to the high success of membership plans. Launch Loyalty provides a variety of print and digital marketing materials to help promote the plan, including targeted materials for local employers and unique opportunities as well as email campaigns to help bring dormant patients back to your practice.
Customer Service Customer support is vital to plan success. Plan patients can speak with a Launch Loyalty representative five days a week, so office staff doesn’t have to spend time answering patients’ plan-related questions. Custom Website A membership plan website promotes brand awareness and allows your patients to easily sign up online. Launch Loyalty clients also receive a badge to include on their practice website that will allow patients to easily link to the in-house membership plan website. Enrollment and Retention Offering multiple enrollment options to your patients is important. With Launch Loyalty, patients can enroll online or by phone with a Customer Care representative. Launch Loyalty’s retention team is dedicated to assisting patients with renewals and payment method issues, ensuring more patients remain enrolled for the plan.
Choose the Right Administrator Launch Loyalty is experienced in working with dental offices in Washington and is skilled in navigating and complying with the discount plan organization regulations specific to the state, which adds another level of security for your practice. Don’t be drawn into a false sense of security with a membership software platform or be tempted to handle the administration yourself; leave it to the experts at Launch Loyalty.
To learn more about how you can partner with Launch Loyalty, call (844) 40-LOYAL (56925) or visit launchpatients.com/seattle-kingcounty to request a demo of how the program works.
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The Musings of a Dental School Hopeful…Dangerous Tooth Trends By Neha Mallick Have you ever heard of tooth gems? Shark teeth? Or do-it yourself braces? All of these potentially dangerous dental trends have emerged (or re-emerged in some cases) on social media lately. Fads like these have been going viral since the pandemic started but the ones outlined in this article can be extremely harmful to teeth, causing long-term implications for a patient’s oral health.
Teeth Whitening The self-teeth whitening TikTok trend emerged in late August 2020 and caught the attention of more than fifteen million people. Individuals were using household cleaning supplies, such as an abrasive pad containing formaldehyde and sulfurous acid, which can be found at the local grocery store to scrub and whiten their teeth. Formaldehyde is commonly used in many household products and some building materials…would you really want that on your teeth? In these videos, many of the individuals posting would even state that they did not care about the dentist’s opinions that they are damaging their teeth by using these products. By using these pads, it was a cheaper and less time-consuming choice than professional treatments and commercial whitening strips, so that is where they placed the value…and not on the actual enamel they were destroying.
“Veneers Check” aka Shark Teeth aka Turkey Teeth This trend went viral on TikTok in November 2020, with one video in particular peaking at over nine million views. Influencers, and soon after those they had influenced, would have all of the teeth in their mouth ground into nubs to be fitted for what was being publicly labelled as veneers…but more often than not, were actually full coverage crowns (although yes, some were true veneers). While these videos often ended with a perfect white smile, what was not being disclosed was 1) the cost of this procedure from start to finish and 2) the long-term impacts and maintenance. Plenty of people took the time to question these very points in the comments of such videos, but that still did not prevent others from making profoundly serious mistakes. Nightmarishly, there were more than a few stories that also circulated the Internet of people who filed their teeth down with nail files, with the thought that this would either help the process go quicker in a dental office or “force” a dentist to perform the procedure. These practices were widely renounced as unnecessary and dangerous by dentists, especially being done on the healthy mouths of people who were primarily under the age of forty and occurring purely for aesthetic reasons. Many dentists took to TikTok to specifically denounce this trend and plead with whomever they could reach in cyber space to not do this. Two dentists in particular, Dr. Emi Mowson and Dr. Shaadi Manouchehri, both based in the United Kingdom, had their responses to this trend go viral. Dr. Manouchehri was quick to draw attention to some of the points above by stating in her reaction video to a young woman who had had this done:… “Veneers or crowns will need to be replaced every 10 to 15 years typically. She is going to need to replace them four or five times throughout her lifetime, if not more. Not only is the financial burden going to be an issue, secondly it’s going to be a biological burden because the tooth physically can’t be prepared and re-prepared every single time.” The “shark teeth” reference probably makes sense to you, but are you wondering where “turkey teeth” comes from? While it certainly does not apply to all who had these procedures, the hashtag #turkeyteeth was being used along with #veneerscheck and #sharkteeth because many of the influencers were explicitly stating that they had gone to Turkey to have the procedure done, often because it was much cheaper there than in their home countries.
Do-It-Yourself Braces In a video series that recorded over 9.5 million views, a woman wrapped small hair ties or the smallest grade of intraoral elastics around her front teeth and then posted an update video on her progress each day. She claimed she had closed the gap in her teeth within three days. She even posted a follow-up video that was mocking the dentists who had posted response videos or comments asking that she and anyone watching not actually do this at home due to the damage it could cause. Disappointingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, this is an idea that becomes trendy every few years. Most recently this concept made the rounds on YouTube in 2015 and prior to that, fake braces had been considered a fashion statement or status symbol in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and China. In 2006, Thailand had to implement public health measures and banned the sale of fake braces due to the damage being caused to the wearer’s 16 l 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
mouths. The problem was two-fold: wearing the braces unnecessarily was causing injuries but it was also found that heavy metals (such as cadmium) were leeching from some of the cheaper products and slowly poisoning the wearers.
Tooth Gems This trend first emerged in the 90’s, so for some of our readers, you may have already seen patients come through your offices with these tiny accessories. Interestingly, you can have these little gems (which are designed to last from six months to up to two years) applied at beauty salons, tattoo parlors, etc. but each of these businesses advise you to seek out a dental professional for removal. The claims being made are that “Tooth gems adhere to the surface of teeth the same way orthodontic brackets do.” In reality, given the length of time these gems are attached, the tooth may become discolored and, “over time, may wear away at the enamel, increasing the risk of tooth decay and infection.” As is often an aspect of these trends, there are at-home kits for sale so people can apply whatever shapes or colors they would prefer for far less money than going to a professional. Then there are still others who bypass the at-home kits and choose to use nail glue and either nail gems or craft gems to try to join the fad. Conclusion These personal attempts at prettier teeth are not safe for our enamel. What is often lost on those individuals who jump on a trend in the pursuit of ideal beauty is that the longevity of teeth can be compromised by at home hacks. Although the Internet can be full of dangerous tips, and likely always will be, dentists can counter this with patience and education. This can look like joining the conversation on these social media platforms or simply being upfront with patients about these trends and warning them of the dangers. Even though these DIY trends might save money, the long-term effects are simply not worth it. Our patients look to us as resources for their health, thus it is our duty to be as informed as possible…even if it might be as simple as gently explaining “No, don’t do that and here’s why.”
PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEW MEMBERS October
Dr. Holly Hayden Dr. Carter Beckham Dr. Jean Chen Dr. Sean Pairawan Dr. Ashwini Khante Dr. John Popenoe Dr. Tatyana Pihur Dr. Shang Liu Dr. Mindy Sessions Dr. Michal Friedrich Dr. Huanan Li Dr. Saman Gharai Dr. Aniya Lohia Dr. Hayley Lofquist Dr. Akira Nakada Dr. Balpreet Saini Dr. Lauren Lill
November
Dr. Aidi Niu Dr. Xiaorui Zhu Dr. Megan Miller Dr. Jeffrey Lee Dr. Allison Kutz Dr. Anh Thu Becker Dr. Rebecca Liu Dr. Natalie Trongtham Dr. Veronika Szreder Louie Dr. Ara Carmody Dr. Mark Studeny Dr. Trang Dang Dr. April Dennison Dr. Bryan Shireman
December
Dr. Yung Ting Hsu Dr. Hitomi Akimoto Dr. Kang Hoon Ko
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SKCDS Leading on Hard Issues - An Interview with Your Leaders By Dr. Randy Ogata
This is the third of a multi-part article interviewing three volunteers who are working with SKCDS and SKCDF to make a difference in our communities, profession, and the world we live in. On January 18, 2022 the SKCDS presented a DEI Keynote address by Dr. Brett Ferguson, Chair of the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) Dental School, and first African American President of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). In his presentation, he walked the participants through the living history that his career has spanned with regards to segregation, legislation, affirmative actions, studies, rulings, and actions that have brought us to where we are today. As I compose this third article of interviews done months ago – it occurred to me that we are all passengers and participants on this voyage together. Where what we each think and do – affects the course of the ship we are sailing upon. This series of articles started with interviews by Dr. Randy Ogata with three volunteers from SKCDS & SKCDF: Drs. Lisa Egbert, Nina Svino and Doug Jackson. Dr. Egbert - Immediate Past President of SKCDS and Co-Chair of SKCDS Special Committee on DEI Dr. Svino - Current President of the Foundation Dr. Jackson - Member of the SKCDS’s Access to Care Committee Ogata (O): Dental care is one part of a complex Rubik’s cube; what other doors do you see dentistry opening to better address access in King County? EGBERT (E) - There are many ways dentistry can directly and indirectly open doors. When patients have a dental home, their dentist can recognize other health issues and make referrals as necessary. Also, making people in all communities aware of the rewards a dental career has to offer can improve lives. People often serve the communities from which they come, providing care with a high level of initial trust. Having more skilled auxiliaries available decreases costs for patients, which is often the real barrier to access. SVINO (S) - Our community health clinics and the Seattle Clinic are terrific for emergency/low-cost care but how do we translate these outreach programs into long term dental homes? This is still in the idea phase. Perhaps we can task the volunteers to ask patients what would it take to have a permanent home? What are the obstacles? Ask them in the intake forms as well as repeat this at the conclusion of the appointment. California has a MediCal program we may want to look into, but how do we get better reimbursement? Jackson (J) - I’ve heard it said that “when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. I’d challenge us to look outside of our profession and the issues we typically get behind that directly support the good oral health of our patients and our livelihoods. I’d challenge us to identify how we can use our powerful and respected advocacy voice to join with other organizations (i.e., coalition building) to draw attention to some of the many upstream factors that we know adversely impact access to dental care for those who live at the margins. I’m talking about using some of our clout to shine a light on the social determinants of health. Where we live, work, play and learn makes a difference. Using our clout to join forces with others addressing the inequalities in various social determinants of health that are upstream will have positive impacts on oral health and general health matters downstream. (O) What one thing would you like SKCDS/SKCDF to do in 2022? (J) - The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone. One thing we haven’t spent much time acknowledging as a dental Society and as a Foundation is the disproportionality of the negative impacts it is having on people who identify as BIPOC. How many people reading this have taken the time to genuinely ask their BIPOC peers and partners, their staff and their patients about the impact COVID-19 is having on them, their families, and their livelihood? Through the lens of intersectionality, these conversations are even more important to have with your BIPOC peers and partners, staff and patients who are women. COVID-19 has been hard on all of us. It has been harder on women and even harder on those who are BIPOC and identify as women. If you have been doing this and truly listening to understand the impact, I thank you! If you haven’t, how can SKCDS/SKCDF help facilitate these conversations (and the listening)? Bringing 18 l 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
attention to this in this Q&A piece may get the ball rolling for some reading this, and I ask what it will take for this to be widespread? Your BIPOC peers and partners, staff and patients will appreciate your humanity and your humility, trust me! (E) - I would like to see events featuring CE topics and speakers that celebrate our diversity. When I joined SKCDS, I saw very few women at events, and I felt a little out of place. I know that there are other dentists who walk into membership meetings for the first time and look around to find someone like them. To feel at home. To make a friend. SKCDS has always provided excellent CE. Adding a series about modern topics and partnering with other dental societies seems like a natural extension that may also start conversations about how we can better serve our patients, community, and each other through understanding. (S) - I think I would like to see how we can create a legacy of good works that is well known in our community and a model for other dental societies. (O) In ten years, when we look at everything we have done – what do you want SKCDS/SKCDF’s legacy to be to our members and King County? (S) - I want to see long lasting programs that inspire our fellow dentists to want to join our society, that these programs are so motivating that people can’t wait to contribute with fundraising or volunteering and this causes such goodwill that we will never be on the receiving end of a bad joke or a derogatory phrase again. (J) - Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t need an Access to Care Committee? OK, maybe that won’t be the case ten years from now, but how many years should we aspire to making this our reality? It will take a multi-pronged approach to achieve and will be well worth the effort through the lens of all of those who live in King County. (E) - In ten years, if SKCDS is regarded as the leading authority and an indispensable partner in oral health for the people of King County, with nearly every dentist as a member, we will have succeeded beyond imagination. That is the vision. The legacy I hope to leave with my service to the Society is one of caring. If all decisions made by our organization are based on caring about members and the community we serve, SKCDS will remain relevant and strong. Nina, Lisa and Doug – on behalf of the SKCDS/SCKDF, I want to thank you for sharing your thoughts with me and our members about many of the hard issues facing our profession today and into our futures. We all agreed that there are no EASY BUTTONS to instantly solve our problems. But with systemic planning, vision, and bias towards actions – we can start getting there one step at a time.
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2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
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SICK DENTIST By Al Munk DDS Reprinted from a previous issue with permission.
It is Monday and I am sick. It started so innocently yesterday with a tickle in my throat and this morning feels like the Army stopped for a latrine break in my nasopharynx. Of course I am in denial of these symptoms like any self-respecting self-employed person. If my employment contract specified five days of sick leave per year as it does for my employees, I doubt I would leave the comfortable environs of my bed this morning. Of course there is no sick leave for the boss so into the shower I go, sneezing and sniffling away in the scalding cascade of water in an attempt to burn away the illness. After a few minutes of this vain effort, I exit the shower, one lobster-colored dentist with droopy eyes and brain to match contemplating my next move. I pull out the medicine drawer and smile at the presence of not one but three bottles of ibuprofen in its various states of delivery. When one contracts a head plague like I have this morning, a neon sign is flashingly lit in the cerebrum telling the higher motor centers to cease and desist or risk great bodily harm to yourself and others. What ibuprofen does in either its generic chalky pills or its shiny coated brand-name caplets is to pull the plug on this neon sign, making the body momentarily think that life can go on somewhat as usual. What it forgets to tell you is that you will be a bleary-eyed, snotsnorting buffalo head if you choose to go to work today. Of course, I take two of these little wonders and proceed with the morning routine. I am certainly not one to primp and preen in front of the mirror prior to going to work in the morning. My staff will certainly testify to this without need of a swearing in ceremony. But I do brush my hair in the morning, albeit without looking in the mirror. This may seem a little odd but bear with me for the logical explanation. You see, I just cannot bring myself to turn the light on in the bathroom at 5:30 A.M. so soon after leaving the cocoon of my bed so I shower and all the rest in total darkness. This is not so hard to do after a few years, unless someone leaves something in the wrong place…for example, if someone leaves the shower door open and I slam into it with some body part. This is not a good way to start the day, especially when sick. Anyway, after exiting the shower, I grab my hairbrush (always in the same place) and run it through my wet locks a few times while pretending to look in the mirror. During the brief hairbrush routine, I discover that my hair hurts. If you brush your hair in the morning and it hurts, do not pass go and go directly back to bed. Even though there is nothing in the Merck Manual about sore hair and illness, take it from me, when you have dolor of la integument, you are toast and will crash and burn before lunch. Were someone to paint green and orange stripes down my face while I slept, I would show up to work as a psychedelic candy-cane due to my lack of even a cursory facial examination in the morning. Regardless, the two ibuprofen begin their journey down my alimentary tract, eventually finding the central control which is evidently unprotected by surge control appliances resulting in a short-circuit of common sense and I go to work thinking I can do what I normally do, even though on a good day when I am not sick, I can barely do what I normally do.
EXPOSURES
I arrive at work and my assistant looks at me and turns her head a little to the side like Woofie does in the morning and asks if l am all right. Of course I am not but thanks to the drug, I can say that I woke up with the sniffles but am feeling fine. During the first patient, I bend over in that dentist pose we know and love so well and discover my eyeballs are falling out of my head and my mask is filling up with fluid of some sort. I can’t see clearly and my body feels like elves have been hammering on all my joints for eight hours or so. For some reason I continue on. Maybe it is the Protestant work ethic though I am neither Protestant nor ethical. I make it to lunch with aid of an entire box of Kleenex and realize I will not survive the afternoon. I cancel out what is left of the day and return to my bed, that womb which I should have never left, and allow myself to be respectfully sick the rest of the day. That’s all for now from Ballard.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or official policy of the Seattle-King County Dental Society.
22 l 2022 SKCDS WINTER QUARTERLY
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