News

Photo by EZ Event Photography, courtesy ADA News. C 2018 American Dental Association Staff of the "ODA Today" caught up with Dr. Joe Crowley immediately following the ADA's recent House of Delegates meeting, where Crowley concluded his term as ADA president. Crowley, who has served in most leadership positions at every level of organized ... [continue reading]

Membership dues statements are being mailed out this month. Members will also receive an electronic renewal notice via email directing them to www.oda.org/renew to pay their dues. Members who indicated on their 2018 renewal statement that they prefer to receive membership communications electronically will not receive a paper statement in the mail ... [continue reading]

The ODA began offering recruitment grants to local component dental societies in 2017 for events and initiatives aimed at gaining new members. In 2018, seven grants were awarded to local dental societies for recruitment initiatives.  One society that received a grant was the Medina County Dental Society to host an event featuring updates from ... [continue reading]

Over the last 20 years, an evolution in computer technology has taken place in the dental practice. Computers were previously only used for basic recordkeeping and billing. Then came the progression from billing to appointment scheduling, digital radiography, charting, and now, to digital dentistry. As the amount of data stored in systems has ... [continue reading]

Recently, I overheard a conversation between two of our member dentists that really disturbed me. It seems that one of the dentists referred a patient to see a specialist. Upon assessing the situation, the specialist told the patient in no uncertain terms that the general dentist “made a gross negligent mistake.” YIKES!! Having served ... [continue reading]

ODA's membership surveys regularly show that one of the most valued benefits of belonging to organized dentistry is advocacy. ODA's recent successes at the Statehouse and its current advocacy activities confirm the value of membership. In the last few years, the ODA has successfully advocated to: Stop radical proposals that would create a new ... [continue reading]

Closing a dental practice often is much more complicated than turning off the lights and locking the door. As dentists contemplate the closure of an office, there are several key points to consider. Announcing the closure of a practice is a critical step in the process that could cause difficulty for the dentist if not handled appropriately. From ... [continue reading]

Dealing with the subject of fees can be a sensitive issue, but at the same time it is a necessary part of the patient-dentist relationship. The subject can become exponentially more difficult when a third-party payer becomes involved in the discussion. One of the most antagonizing things a dentist can encounter involves an assertion that his/her ... [continue reading]

Back in the day, everyone knew about the travelling salesman. He came from out of town, bringing new products and solutions to problems. Even solutions to problems you didn’t know you had. The travelling salesman was a commonplace occurrence ... and everyone hated him. That’s because he came to town, did and said whatever it took to ... [continue reading]

As a newly minted 70-year-old dentist, I think I qualify at both ends of the doctor-patient relationship to comment on this issue! The American Dental Association has done due diligence in working up this issue for the leadership and membership, and by the time this opinion gets into “ODA Today,” we’ll likely already know our ... [continue reading]