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GDA Celebrates Dental Health Day at State Capitol The 2014 Georgia legislative session kicked off on January 13. One of the signature events that took place at the Capitol on the first day was a celebration of good dental health! In honor of Governor Nathan Deal’s officially proclaiming January 13 as Dental Health Day in the state, 32 GDA and Alliance members and GDA staff distributed hundreds of oral health kits to legislators and legislative staff. “This annual event is a great way to place the topic of good oral health in front of legislators right from the start,” said GDA President Dr. Marshall Mann. “We plan to follow up handing out the dental kits with good turnouts at our LAW Days and hard work by our network of Contact Dentists to make this a successful session.” Teams of volunteers spread out over the four floors of the State Capitol and the six floors of the Legislative Office Building bright and early that Monday morning, handing out kits in every legislative office. Staffers and legislators alike greeted GDA volunteers with big smiles and cries that ‘Our kits are here! We always look forward to seeing the GDA!’ “We truly appreciate the dentist and Alliance volunteers who visited the Capitol,” said Interim Executive Director Nelda Greene. “Many of these volunteers also took part in the Board of Trustees and House of Delegates meetings on Saturday and Sunday, including brand new Leadership GDA participants Dr. Hannah Oh and Dr. Kristina Dawson. They took time away from their practices to ensure that the GDA advocacy effort got off to a smooth start.” After all of the kits were in the hands of legislators, the GDA, Alliance, and staff volunteers gathered on the Capitol steps near the governor’s office for a photo with Gov. Deal. Here is to the successful start of what hopefully will be a successful session for dentistry and dental patients.
Dr. Kristina Dawson Dr. Jonathan Dubin Mrs. Nancy Ferguson Dr. Brenda Fritz Dr. Greg Goggans Dr. Lee Hawkins Mrs. Cindy Jernigan Dr. Ben Jernigan Mrs. Janelle Kauffman Dr. Thom Kauffman Mrs. Johanna Livingston Dr. Lynn Livingston Dr. Marshall Mann Dr. Hannah Oh Dr. David Remaley Dr. Richard Sugarman Dr. Doug Torbush Mrs. Debbie Torbush Dr. Becky Weinman Dr. Richard Weinman
GDA President Dr. Marshall Mann with State Rep. and GDA Past President Dr. Lee Hawkins (l) and GDA Vice President Dr. Greg Goggans. Dr. Goggans is a former multi-term State Senator.
GDA Staff Dental Health Day Participants Nelda Greene Delaine Hall Skip Jones Courtney Layfield Melana McClatchey Pamela Yungk GDA Membership Services Committee Chair Dr. Becky Weinman with 2014 Leadership GDA participants Dr. Kristina Dawson (l) and Dr. Hannah Oh (r).
GDA and Alliance Dental Health Day Participants Dr. Lindsey Anderson Mr. Korey Anderson Dr. Janine Bethea Mrs. Janet Bradberry Mrs. Fran Brown Dr. Nelson Conger
GDA President Dr. Marshall Mann and Gov. Nathan Deal with GDA, Alliance, and GDA staff Dental Health Day participants. The group distributed dental care kits to legislators to celebrate Dental Health Day in Georgia. GDA ACTION FEBRUARY 2014
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