Membership is the single biggest issue for the association moving forward into the future. While these may be sobering words to hear; it is the hard truth and we all must face this fact. The Pennsylvania Dental Association and the American Dental Association both know this and have been investing resources to increase the value of membership. I have had the amazing fortune to sit on the PDA Membership Comn-dttee for nearly five years and to be the Chair these last two years. I have seen firsthand just how conunitted the PDA!s staff and volunteer dentists are to building value and increasing membership. I wish to share a little about my story.
Recently I was at a meeting with a friend who graduated with me from dental school. During the meeting, she made the comment that "organized dentistry was going away". The comment struck me, and it took me a moment to process what she said. Over the days following the meeting, her comment ate away at me. What would my life look like, or better yet, what would my profession look like if organized dentistry dissolved over time?
The Food and Drug Administration recently cleared silver diamine fluoride for reducing tooth sensitivity. Clinical trials document arrest and prevention of dental caries by silver diamine fluoride. This off-label use is now permissible and appropriate under U.S. law. A CDT code was approved for caries arresting medicaments for 2016 to facilitate documentation and billing. We present a systematic review, clinical indications, clinical protocol and consent procedure to guide application for caries arrest treatment.