Guest Editorial
“What Has Organized Dentistry Done For Me Lately?”- Millennial Edition
- by Carlos A. Sanchez, D.D.S. In My Opinion Yes, that’s right, this one’s for all you young dentists, at the request of a young dentist. Don’t worry if you’re an older dentist, like me. I think you’ll find this article relevant and useful for your dealings with our younger colleagues. I hope my young readers will share this piece with your same-aged pals. As it turns out, your ADA and FDA have done plenty for you in the past 20 years, much of which often goes unheralded and remains unknown to our grassroots members. Those accomplishments consist of issues we have supported and, in some cases, have become law, as well as those we have opposed and successfully shut down. For those of you who have seen reference to “Dentists’ Day On the Hill” (DDOH), and wonder what the heck it is, it is an annual event that takes place during the legislative session in Tallahassee. I have attended every one except two, in which a last minute airline strike and a nasty storm resulted in cancelled flights. Most dental-related legislation is state law, and not federal. State laws must be addressed and either supported or opposed at the state level, in Tallahassee. I would like to give you examples of what a strong dental association can accomplish and what happens in states with weak ones. The first ever DDOH was in 1996, and one of the issues we faced included a mandate that all dental offices hire a “medical director” for the small fee of about $50,000 annual salary. Obviously, that salary 4
would be much higher 21 years later. We shut that one down with a “slam dunk,” and most dentists have no idea it ever happened. These types of asinine bills usually come up because some vested interest group, who may stand to benefit from the passage of a law, will approach legislators with a large political contribution in exchange for their support. The other issue that same year related to “denturism.” I wonder how many of you young members even know what that term refers to? I will tell you. It consists of your denture lab technician being legally allowed to see patients in a dental operatory they may have in their denturism practice, in which they may take impressions, perform the “try-ins,” and then finish and deliver complete and partial dentures to people who used to be our patients! This bill came about due to a nice lady in the Florida House of Representatives, whose mother was frustrated with her difficulty in finding a Medicaid dentist to make her nice, cheap dentures. We shut that one down, too. States like Montana, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Maine were too weak to stop it, and denturism has since become law. From what I have researched, Montana and Utah have repealed their denturism laws. Good for them! I don’t have to tell you that once a bad law sinks its claws into a state, it can be very tough to repeal. Another legislative issue we succeeding in fighting for and passing was coverage for partial dentures for Medicaid patients. Sounds like a “no-brainer,”