Category: Opinion & Editorial

We are a startlingly confused and conflicted society.  Simply watching the television for a day reveals the maddeningly schizophrenic nature of people.  Too many people of all ages still blindly trust what they see.  Our grandparents would look at the newspaper and say, “of course it’s true.  They wouldn’t ... [continue reading]

“You will find that the mere resolve not to be useless, and the honest desire to help other people, will, in the quickest and delicatest ways, improve yourself.” – John Ruskin (1819-1900) We may call them New Year’s resolutions but most people, year after year, not long after that annual pledge to improve themselves and ... [continue reading]

During the daily grind of dental school, it is easy for students to become consumed with coursework and forget about the “real world” of dentistry.  Students are so busy learning how to practice dentistry they lose sight of what is occurring in the profession, especially politically.  Consequently, The Ohio State University ... [continue reading]

To the editor: I enjoyed the column in the November “ODA Today” titled “A quick guide to dentists providing expert testimony” and agree with everything that was said. Here are a few more points to consider based on my experience working with personal injury attorneys: Pre-Hearing An initial request for expert witness ... [continue reading]

For this special Nostradamus Issue of the “ODA Today,” we have asked all of our regular columnists to answer a series of questions concerning their vision of the state of dentistry in 2050 (click here to see the responses). Had I posed these questions as recently as 2007, I suspect that the answers, or at least the tone of the piece, would be ... [continue reading]

By Paul S. Casamassimo, DDS, MS, FAAPD, FRCSEd - ODA President; Matthew J. Messina, DDS - Executive Editor; Ken Jones, DDS, JD - Guest Columnist; Robert Buchholz, DDS - Guest Columnist; Ryan Walton, DDS - Guest Columnist This month, the “ODA Today” columnists are taking a look at what they think the profession of dentistry will look ... [continue reading]

By Stephanie SiskChicago Dental Society Surveys, reports and forecasts all hint at a shifting, sometimes confusing, landscape for dentistry: The outlook for dentists is strong, so say forecasts including that from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. Between 2010 and 2020, dentistry is expected to grow by some 32,200 jobs, a 21 percent ... [continue reading]

To the editor: I wanted to share how great my experience on the Ohio Dental Association Committee on Access to Care and Public Service (CACPS) has been. The opportunity to meet and work with one of the finest state level organizations in organized dentistry has just been a tremendous experience. The staff at the ODA is top notch and really set the ... [continue reading]

Resolution 11-13: New Dentists’ Involvement at ODA and Dental Schools The 2013 House of Delegates passed a resolution charging our Subcouncil on New Dentists to provide the 2014 House with a report on the state of the new dentist in Ohio. I was pleased that the House saw the urgency to look at our next generation of dentists. They are our ... [continue reading]

There is a great deal of talk these days about looking to the future, trying to decide what is likely to happen so that we may better plan for it.  My friend, author and business guru Mark Sanborn often says that “predicting the future is easy – predicting it correctly is very hard.”  From Nostradamus on down, there ... [continue reading]