News

Don Sabol, Medicaid health system administrator for the Ohio Department of Medicaid, is the 2017 recipient of the Ohio Dental Association Achievement Award Don Sabol, Medicaid health system administrator for the Ohio Department of Medicaid, has been an advocate for patients in need as well as dentists over the last 15 years. In recognition of his ... [continue reading]

Economist Milton Friedman and Science Fiction Author Robert Heinlein were both fond of using the expression “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” (TANSTAAFL) as a way to express the need to be aware of the cost associated with everything we do. In economics this is called opportunity cost. The quote refers to the practice ... [continue reading]

I have used this column to keep readers apprised of recent developments in the area of dental specialty advertising. In the past, I have discussed various legal cases challenging specialty advertising rules and recent changes made to Ohio’s rules and the ADA’s “Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct.” Here is ... [continue reading]

A well-defined office manual can be of great benefit to a dental practice. Employment issues are some of the most difficult matters to confront as a small-business owner. Oftentimes, the best way for employer dentists to avoid the common problems that arise with employees is to establish an office employee manual. Establishing an employee manual ... [continue reading]

Over the past year the Ohio Dental Association has received an increased number of calls from dentists who are the subject of some form of elevated third-party payer scrutiny relative to their use of the periodontal scaling and root planing procedure codes (D4341 and D4342). While this scrutiny goes by different names, e.g., audit, focused review, ... [continue reading]

Like most of you, I have become increasingly annoyed at the way the profession of dentistry is portrayed in the series of advertisements currently being aired by Aspen Dental.  While I “get it” that they are trying to be funny, I am concerned that the Aspen ads perpetuate negative stereotypes of dentists, the practice of ... [continue reading]

In the Sunday, July 23, 2017 “New York Times” (NYT), reporter Sheila Kaplan front-paged the relationship of the new CDC Director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald with Coca Cola, which yielded a million dollars to fight childhood obesity, a childhood health ill squarely attributed to consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Public health ... [continue reading]

The Ohio State Dental Board is requesting that dentists ensure their dental auxiliary staff have an active and current license to practice. To verify that staff has a license: Visit the eLicense Ohio portal at elicense.ohio.gov Select “Verify a License” section  Select Board Name - Dental Board Enter first and last name or ... [continue reading]

Dr. Catherine Flaitz, division chief of dentistry at Nationwide Children's Hospital, speaks in favor of House Bill 184 before the House Health Committee. Several ODA member dentists testified before the House Health Committee in June in favor of legislation to improve access to dental care in Ohio. Dr. Patrick Lloyd, dean of The Ohio State ... [continue reading]

The 2017 ODA Annual Session will feature several hands-on courses. Annual Session will be Sept. 14-17 in Columbus. For more details and to register, visit www.oda.org/events. The 2017 Ohio Dental Association Annual Session will feature several unique hands-on workshops, including a cadaver dissection course for the first ... [continue reading]