Category: ODA Today

In 2023, the Ohio General Assembly will consider and pass the state budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The ODA’s biggest priority for the next state budget will be to significantly increase funding for the state’s dental Medicaid program. The ODA has already begun the process of educating policymakers on the importance of fully funding ... [continue reading]

The federal No Surprises Act and Ohio’s surprise billing law have been in effect for a little over a year. While it appears there may be some limited confusion about the laws and their application to the average dentist, it also appears that this confusion has not resulted in Ohio dentists incurring substantive negative consequences from either ... [continue reading]

As part of their practice management curriculum, I asked my third-year dental students to describe the practice they envision 20 years from now and craft a mission statement for their office. I was impressed and encouraged by their responses. They took the assignment seriously and were amazingly honest and open with their dreams. The mission ... [continue reading]

When Dr. Fauci announced his retirement, we all thought that meant the COVID pandemic was over. But, if you follow the news on COVID-19, you know that while it has ebbed, people are still experiencing serious problems from the virus. How will we know, really, when COVID-19 joins smallpox and bubonic plague in the annals of infectious disease ... [continue reading]

The Cambridge Dictionary (the fanciest online dictionary I could find) defines fellowship as “a group of people or an organization with the same purpose.” Now many a person has come up to me and asked why I choose to spend my difficult to come by free time both volunteering for and being a part of organized dentistry. The answer is ... [continue reading]

We addressed workforce issues The ODA’s Workforce Working Group met 15 times over the past year and held a forum with the state’s dental hygiene program directors to develop both policy and program recommendations to assist ODA member dentists in meeting their staffing requirements. The ODA also signed onto two letters to the Commission on ... [continue reading]

University of Cincinnati Blue Ash is offering the first program to train community dental health coordinators in Ohio. A community dental health coordinator (CDHC) is a member of the dental team who provides oral health education and reaches out to the community. The goal of a CDHC is to help populations who are at risk for dental disease ... [continue reading]

Dental OPTIONS – Ohio Partnership to Improve Oral Health through Access to Needed Services – is a partnership between the Ohio Dental Association and the Ohio Department of Health that provides dental care to patients who don’t qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford dental care. “Dental OPTIONS is a wonderful pathway for a dentist to ... [continue reading]

The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) recently installed Dr. Hans Guter, a general dentist in Circleville, as its new president during its Annual Meeting in Chicago. As the new AGD president, Guter is committed to advancing AGD’s goals of delivering exceptional education, advocating for the profession and providing tools to help general ... [continue reading]

The ODA Subcouncil on New Dentists hosted two events for new dentists, dental residents and dental students at Topgolf. Attendees had a chance to hear from new dentists as they reflected upon their journey from school to now. They also enjoyed dinner, drinks and golf, plus earned one hour of CE at these free events. 37 people attended the event ... [continue reading]