Component News

FIFTH DISTRICT

Getting the Message Out

Janice Pliszczak, D.D.S., M.S., M.B.A.

The Fifth District Dental Society launched an ad campaign June 5 focused on public awareness. It was aimed at letting people know that dental offices were open and safe. The campaign was scheduled to run for one month on Facebook and Spectrum’s local cable television channel. Members were asked to share the ad to their own personal or business Facebook pages. Many members took advantage of the suggestion and were thrilled to get the message out.

We are also working on ads to be placed in newspapers that are delivered throughout the entire Fifth District region. County dental societies will be given the sized ads, which they can place in appropriate newspapers.

Conference is a Go

As of the time of this submission, the Central New York Dental Conference (CNY- DC) is set to take place as planned on Sept. 24-25 at the OnCenter in Syracuse. We have been in contact with the OnCenter, and there may be a few changes, but nothing that health practitioners are not already familiar with. The headliner this year is Gordon Christensen. Register now at www. cnydc.org.

SEVENTH DISTRICT

Rising to the Occasion

H. Bradley Davidson, D.D.S.

The Seventh District Dental Society would like to take this opportunity to recognize its president, Steven Burgart. Most years it could be said that the duties of the district president are predictable and rather routine—which is not meant to minimize the president’s importance. But this year, the president’s tenure has been anything but routine.

Leaders throughout organized dentistry have faced a crisis like no other. President Burgart, with his executive committee and team at the district office, has charted a course through this pandemic, ever reacting and modifying. Their actions have enabled our members to persevere together. Dr. Burgart’s vision, persistence, organizational skills and work ethic have been most important and much appreciated.

President Steven Burgart, third from right, honored for his work bringing dental care to underserved residents of Haiti, at site of hisclinic with colleagues.

Treating patient at Haitian clinic founded by Dr. Burgart.

These same skills are what allowed him to earn NYSDA’s highest honor, the Jarvie-Burkhart Award, which he received in May at the HOD meeting. This award is presented “in recognition of great service rendered in the field of dentistry” and, in Dr. Burgart’s case, “for philanthropic endeavors in the field of dentistry.”

In June 2010, Dr. Burgart traveled to Haiti to assess the dental care needs of people living in the island country. He returned home committed to helping the town of Borgne, an impoverished community of 80,000 on Haiti’s north shore. The people living in this remote location had never received dental care. As described in the HOD minutes, “Since his first trip he has designed, planned, organized, fundraised and installed what is known as the best-equipped dental clinic in the north of Haiti. The clinic operates with local staff and is augmented by in-service dentistry clinics organized by Dr. Burgart and many of his colleagues on visits to Haiti.”

The members of the Seventh District are most appreciative of Dr. Burgart’s efforts on our behalf this year and for his remarkable work in Haiti these past 10 years. We are proud he is one of us!

SECOND DISTRICT

SDDS and NYCDS Members Help with PPE Allocation Effort

In late May, the Second District Dental Society (SDDS) secured a large allocation of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which was distributed to SDDS and New York County Dental Society members over a seven-day period. Members of both components signed up for specific time slots, during which they picked up PPE kits containing surgical masks, face shields, gloves and N95 masks at SDDS headquarters in Brooklyn. Over 25 volunteers assisted with the distribution effort, gathering at SDDS headquarters to break down multiple pallets of PPE and apportion their contents into individual kits.

Both Bronx County Dental Society and Queens County Dental Society also received shares of the PPE allocation, which was delivered to SDDS with the help of three trucks and pallet movers.

SDDS Adopts Virtual CE Model

Because of the government-mandated shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, SDDS revamped its continuing education format to include live webinars. This move allowed SDDS to deliver nearly all of its cancelled in-person CE programming using a “virtual classroom” model, enabling members to obtain much-needed CE credits during the lockdown.

To date, four continuing education presentations have been held via Webex, with more scheduled through June and July. The most recent of these were two sessions of the mandatory opioid prescribing course, which were offered on June 11 and June 14 as a free member benefit. In total, close to 200 members registered for the presentations.

Preparations for Greater New York Dental Meeting Underway

Our Greater New York Dental Meeting (GNYDM) Organization Committee is hard at work as it prepares for the 96th session of this annual event, the premier dental continuing education and exposition in the country, to be held from Nov. 27 through Dec. 2. Led by General Chairman James Doundoulakis, Advisory Chair Lauro Medrano-Saldaña and Executive Director Robert Edwab, the committee consists of eight other members—four from SDDS and four from New York County Dental Society. They are Paul Teplitsky, William Bongiorno, Ian Lerner and Lorna Flamer- Caldera (SDDS); and Richard Lewensen, Steven Moss, Maurice Edwards and Irvind Khurana (NYCDS).

NINTH DISTRICT

Good to be Back

Olga Lombo-Sguerra, D.D.S.

After months of round-the-clock advocacy on behalf of our members and dentistry in general, our executives, delegates and trustees, working hand-in-hand with NYSDA and the ADA, finally heard from Gov. Cuomo on May 31, when he announced the reopening of dental offices as of June 1. Headquarters staff continued to work from home to provide members with the most up-to-date information and to be available to answer a myriad of calls for clarification and confirmation of the reopening and the protocols for doing so.

The Ninth District Dental Association is grateful to NYSDA leaders—President Payam Goudarzi, his officers, the Board of Trustees, and Dr. Mark Feldman, along with his staff—who worked tirelessly contacting the governor’s office and that of the lieutenant governor to advocate for the safe reopening of offices for all dental procedures.

In a joint effort with NYSDA and the ADA, the Ninth provided members with information about FEMA resources to use to access no- and low-cost PPE, enabling them to reopen their offices as safely as possible.

In the words of Winston Churchill: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Education Continues

The Ninth moves further into the digital world hosting a webinar or two a week throughout April, May and June. A very timely webinar presented by Howard Pactovis, “Up-to-Date COVID-19 OSHA, Infection Control and Board-Specifics for Dental Offices,” was presented to members at no-charge on June 11. B. J. Mistry, Edward Feinberg and Bharat Joshi will also be presenting webinars in the next couple of weeks, as will Altfest. And the founder and CEO of ePractice Management is presenting a course entitled “Boosting Practice Recovery” in a webinar sponsored by Nobel Biocare for Ninth members. Ever hopeful, we are in the process of putting together an in-person fall CE course listing for our members.

Town Hall Meetings

We had very positive feedback regarding our weekly virtual Town Hall meetings, which provided a platform for members to interact with one another, with the Ninth District Executive Committee and, on occasion, NYSDA leaders. Members were free to ask any questions they had, to share their experiences during this unprecedented time, and to use these meetings to interact and exchange ideas with colleagues.

Online CPR

With the ADA’s announcement that it was allowing CPR courses to be done primarily online (there is a required hands-on skills assessment as well), the Ninth has provided members with the ability to register through the American Red Cross at a facility closest to them in order to meet the CPR requirement for relicensure. We have contacted the AHA to schedule in-house courses for the fall, as well.

Timely Bulletin

Our May Bulletin, released on May 29 in digital format, was chock-full of relevant information, which was well received and appreciated by the membership.

Fingers Crossed

We are hopeful that our September General Meeting will be able to go ahead as planned. We will make a determination a bit closer to the meeting date. It is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16, at The Grandview in Poughkeepsie. Denise Foran is set to present “Endodontic Diagnosis and Treatment Planning: A Multidisciplinary Approach.” If we cannot have it in-person, it will be held virtually. More information to follow.

The New Dentist Committee is planning its fall reception, currently scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 22, at a restaurant in Rockland County. The Frills & Drills event was rescheduled to Oct. 28 at Saltaire in Port Chester. We are hopeful these events will be able to take place in-person. Fingers crossed. If not, they will be held virtually. Be on the lookout for eblasts with information.

NEW YORK COUNTY

PPE Distribution Effort is a Success

Ioanna Mentzelopoulou, D.D.S.

New York County Dental Society worked with the Second District Dental Society, NYSDA and the New York City Department of Health to get a large shipment of PPE for distribution to members. In total, approximately 1,600 bags of PPE (which included at least 20 NIOSH-approved N95 masks, a face shield and a box of gloves)

were handed out to members. This was a huge undertaking that involved sorting, reorganizing and, eventually, distributing the free PPE to members over a three-day period in early June.

Dr. Mina Kim, second from left, bottom row.

First in new webinar series titled “Contemporary Issues: Starting the Conversation” aims to bring dentists together to discuss and learn abouttoday’s social issues.

Many thanks to the Second District Dental Society for the use of its space and support. We also appreciate and thank the following NYCDS volunteers for their help in making this member benefit possible: Yakir Arteaga, Suchie Chawla, Joshua Chubak and his two staff members, Ada Cooper and daughter Avery, Elaine Gonzales, Lois Jackson, Jim Jacobs, Mina Kim, Gabriela Lee, Michelle Lee, Ioanna Mentzelopoulou, George Pliakas, Jaskaren Randhawa, Sara Shahi, David Shipper, Robert Sorin, Lawrence Spindel, Stacy Spizuoco and Vera Tang.

Webinars

Shortly after New York City dental practices were closed to only emergency/urgent care, NYCDS shared pertinent webinars, two of which it hosted, with member and nonmember dentists, to provide assistance and guidance in dealing with the financial, employment, health and legal impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. NYCDS appreciates the many webinars, post-event memos and individual legal guidance provided by Corporate Friend Mandelbaum Salsburg. We also welcome webinars provided by Altfest Personal Wealth Management, Henry Schein Inc., and LB Goodman & Co.

COVID-19 Impact on Infection Control

NYCDS had over 125 attendees for our very first webinar, led by infection-control expert John Molinari on June 2. Attendees at this free webinar received 1.5 CE credits and a review of lessons learned from the response to another respiratory outbreak, SARS-CoV-2, and emerging recommendations from leading health agencies.

Functional Relations: Racial Diversity

In an effort to bring dentists together to discuss and learn more about today’s social issues, NYCDS launched a new webinar series titled, “Contemporary Issues, Starting the Conversation.” The first webinar, “Functional Relations: Racial Diversity,” was held on June 24. Panel participants shared their honest feedback to questions concerning the role race has played in their careers, how to have conversations about race, and how to move beyond talk and take action. Attendees expressed appreciation for the program as an important first step. Future webinars will address the needs and concerns of members in LGBTQ and disabled populations.

NYCDS volunteers preparing PPE for distribution to members.

Thank you to NYCDS President Lois Jackson, Secretary Mina Kim, Treasurer Suchie Chawla, Past President James Jacobs, and Rico Short and Elizabeth Simpson for their participation as panelists in this important webinar. NYCDS was pleased to see the webinar mentioned in the ADA Morning Huddle and New Member News.

The first in a new webinar series titled “Contemporary Issues, Starting the Conversation” aims to bring dentists together to discuss and learn more about today’s social issues.

ADA 10 Under 10 Award Given to NYCDS Officer

NYCDS is proud of Mina Kim, one of the ADA’s 10 Under 10 Award recipients. The award recognizes 10 new ADA dentists who graduated between 2010 and 2019 who demonstrate excellence early in their careers. Dr. Kim was selected to be in the exclusive “top 10” list by the ADA New Dentist Committee after reviewing 88 nominations. The winners were chosen for making a different in science, research and education; practice excellence; philanthropy; leadership; and advocacy. Dr. Kim is secretary of NYCDS, co-founded the Woman to Woman Dentist Network, is a graduate of the ADA Institute for Diversity in Leadership and currently serves on the dean’s Strategic Advisory Committee at New York University College of Dentistry. She also founded the NYCDS Give Kids A Smile Day event and provides pro bono dental services to sex trafficking victims. NYCDS is so pleased to see Dr. Kim recognized nationally!

SUFFOLK COUNTY

Give Kids A Smile

Radha Sachdeva-Munk, D.D.S.

At our Feb. 8th Give Kids A Smile event, Suffolk County Dental Society treated a record number of children, with a record number of volunteers. It was a flawlessly executed program, led by our chair, Jimmy Kilimitzoglou.

Tending to youngster at GKAS event.

SCDS thanks its sponsors: FidelisCare, DentaQuest, Henry Schein Cares, Henry Schein Dental, MARVIL FIT, MLMIC, LI Suffolk Center for Speech, SDI Dental, Lions International (Mattituck), Syneos Health, Rotary International (Riverhead) and, of course, the American Dental Association.

We also owe a debt of gratitude to our 150 volunteers from SCDS, Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine, Dental Hygiene Care Center of Farmingdale State College, Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services (ESBOCES), St. Charles Hospital, Long Island Head Start, Sunrise Hi Railers, and the Riverhead Aquarium.

Volunteers at 2020 Give Kids A Smile event at Long Island Aquarium.

General Membership Meeting

SCDS held it first General Membership Meeting in February. One hundred twenty members attended and proudly looked on as President Claudia Mahon-Vazquez received a proclamation from Suffolk County Legislator William Spencer. Dr. Spencer had visited our Give Kids A Smile event earlier in the month and was so moved that he returned to recognize us for this important community service.

Later in the meeting, Fred Ferguson provided a two-credit CE course on “Advancing Dentistry Value in Healthcare.”

President Claudia Mahon-Vazquez receives proclamation from Suffolk County Legislator William Spencer.

Mid-Late Career Dentist Forum

More than 60 members gathered for a SCDS Mid-Late Career Dentist Forum, Feb. 26, sponsored by Altfest, TD Bank Healthcare Practice Solutions and Henry Schein Dental. A six-expert panel covered pertinent topics and answered questions particularly important to mid-career and late-career dentists. They included preparing a practice for sale, selling a practice, taking on an associate, financial planning for the practice, retirement and personal finance, office investment, office design, practice transition, practice management/optimization, practice acquisition and more.

Attendees enjoyed food and drink, great company and received much helpful information.

Panelists address audience at career forum in February.

Don’t Miss a Thing

We continue to make a significant push toward better communication and connection with our members using methods that more easily integrate with their lifestyle. You can now find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and, even, Spotify, in addition to our traditional www.Suffolk- Dental.Org presence.