President’s Message

Dentist to Dentist

RELATIONSHIP. MENTORSHIP. COMMUNICATION. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”

—The Wizard, The Wizard of Oz

I have always believed that contrary to the quote above, the success of the Association depends upon each of us knowing “that man” behind the curtain and all that’s happening around them. Given such, my goal through these monthly addresses is to be authentic, transparent, and clearly communicate how we are working to serve you. So, although the summer months are slowly beginning to wind down, your Texas Dental Association, alongside your local components, is starting to ramp up our work—behind the curtain. Here’s how:

Money back to you: • TDA perks program—

continues to push more member dentists to seek the services of ERC Specialists to help with the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) application. At the time of this writing, our members are

scheduled to receive almost $7 million of this fully forgiven tax credit. Please check https:// tdaperks.com/specialty-payrollcompany-erc-tax-credit to start the process of checking your eligibility if you haven’t yet.

Advocacy, Compliance and Regulatory issues prior to the upcoming legislative session:

• The Council on Legislative,

Regulatory, and Governmental

Affairs—met with several other dental organizations, to develop a legislative agenda (to be approved by your Board of Directors) which will focus on issues that solve problems for all member dentists, such as seeking insurance reform, decreasing administrative burdens and increasing Medicaid reimbursements; while DENPAC (your state political action committee) met to discuss upcoming fund-raising efforts in anticipation of the upcoming legislative year.

Continuing Education, Membership, and Our Patients:

• The Council on the Annual

Meeting, Continuing Education,

and Programs—is working on a high-end, member-only networking and CE conference to be held at the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa in 2023, as well as shaping the educational and entertainment programs for the May 2023 TDA Meeting in San Antonio. • The Council on Membership, New

Dentists, and Students—gathered via Zoom to discuss projects to promote the activities of your local components (such as the Southwest Dental Conference put on by the Dallas County Dental Society and the “A Taste & Tour of Diversity & Technology in Dentistry” presented by the San Antonio District Dental Society). They are also working to develop more individual membership growth (such as creating our own Texas Institute for Diversity in Leadership). Duc “Duke” M. Ho, DDS, FAGD TDA President

• TDA Smiles Foundation—is finalizing details prior to the upcoming Texas Mission of Mercy (TMOM) in Luling on September 9 and 10 with volunteer registration open for those who want to provide care.

Associates looking to own a practice or owners looking to grow or sell their practices:

• TDA Perks Program hosted a complimentary networking and happy hour event connecting TDA members while they learned from TDA Perks Program vendors about topics such as real estate, practice financing, insurance negotiation with credentialing, and practice marketing. If you’re interested in an event in your area, reach out to to Josh Epstein at jepstein@tda.org.

Of course, we will continue to work hard to do more and share more so that you can better know the Association “behind the curtain.”