Page 8 - Bulletin Vol 27 No 1 - Jan. - April 2022 FINAL

Message from the Executive Director (cont.)

donated stuffed dinosaurs for the children and Liberty Dental provided some financial support. In case you
are one of our previous 300+ GKAS volunteers and are wondering why you didn’t get the call, well, space

was so limited we had to make do with just a few dozen volunteers this year. But be prepared to be called
on for 2023.

Continuing with our busy Spring, NCDS will be hosting a Job Fair on May 19 at the Westbury Manor.
Dozens of residents, hygienists and dental assistants will be interviewed by several local offices and
hospitals looking to hire. The night includes dinner and an open bar. It should be a fun and productive
evening.

Finally, I’d like to make an appeal to our members. Membership in our organization is dwindling across the
nation, Nassau County is no exception. Sure, we provide free CE, set up events like our Shredding Event or
the Job Fair, but one of the most important services we provide our members often goes

unnoticed...advocacy. At all three levels of the Tripartite we have been able to get laws passed to help you
in your practices and, perhaps more importantly, prevent laws from passing that would be detrimental to
dentistry. For example, in just the last month in Albany, three Bills NYSDA lobbied for were passed. The
NYSDA dental hygiene bill, allowing hygienists to use nitrous oxide and local infiltration anesthesia to help
a dentist with all dental procedures and the NYSDA dental assisting bill allowing registered dental
assistants to place and remove temporary restorations were both passed. The third Bill prohibits the use of

"most favored nation" clauses (which arbitrarily lowers reimbursement levels), bans contract language that
prohibits the ability of any health care provider to make referrals to other health care providers, and
prohibits insurers from mandating the substitution of a pharmaceutical agent (other than a generic
equivalent) by any person other than the prescribing professional. On the National scene, the U.S. House
of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the ADA supported Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act (ELSA). ELSA
would require all private group and individual health plans to cover medically necessary services resulting
from a congenital anomaly or birth defect, including inpatient and outpatient care and reconstructive
services and procedures, as well as adjunctive dental, orthodontic, or prosthodontic support.

Part of the reason for our success is because when we approach our politicians, we can say we represent

the vast majority of all dentists. When I first joined the ADA that percentage was over 85%. That’s a
number that catches the attention of all politicians and leads to successful lobby efforts. Over the years
that number has progressively dropped. Today we still have a majority of dentists as members, but now we
are closer to 58%. Many of our older generation members are retiring. More dentists than ever are
graduating, but fewer of them are joining the ADA. There are many reasons given as to why. But I think
the biggest reason is no one has really exposed them to what the ADA is all about on a one-to-one basis.
We can blast emails, hold events, and make cold calls, but nothing beats a one-on-one discussion by a

known colleague or friend.

So, if you know a practicing dentist who is not a member, have a chat with them. Invite them to a

Nassau County Dental Society ⬧ (516) 227-1112 | 9