MEMBERS New Members


The MDA welcomes these new/renewed members (to May 10):


CENTRAL Erin Coleman, Sedalia (Indiana Univ 09)


GREATER KANSAS CITY Kenneth Abramovitch, Kansas City (Canada-McGill Univ 80) Dustin Mace, Kansas City (UMKC 07)


GREATER ST LOUIS Azadeh Afshari, St. Louis (West Virginia Univ 09) Ashley Asano, St. Louis (UMKC 14) Alen Blagajcevic, St. Louis (Tufts Univ 20) Whitney Deforest Hewitt, O’Fallon (UMKC 14) Mahshid Farahani, St. Louis (UMKC 19) Carl Graves, St. Louis (UMKC 16) Sarah Spring, St. Louis (UMKC 15) Melissa Zyk, Washington (UMKC 98)


SOUTHEAST Bryan Schoolman, Cape Girardeau (Roseman Univ 16) Gary Turnier, Piedmont (Univ of Med & Dent New Jersey 85)


Deceased Members


The MDA expresses its condolences for these deceased members (to May 10):


GREATER ST. LOUIS Richard Demko, Chesterfield (Indiana Univ 72) died March 7, 2022.


Lawrence Doerr, St. Louis (UMKC 81) died March 12, 2022.


ADA Third Party Payer Concierge Is For You


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his past spring, the MDA was awarded a grant to promote the ADA Third Party Payer Concierge! That’s because the ADA wants members to know about the valuable service it provides and want state associations to share that message.


The ADA Third Party Payer Concierge assists dentists with insurance questions and concerns with third party payers. It’s for member dentists only and can be accessed by call- ing 800-621-8099 or emailing dentalbenefits@ada.org.


Many dentists cite dental insurance as the source of one of their greatest frustrations. This service provides much-needed assistance for dentists with insurance-related questions and concerns they cannot find elsewhere.


• Even though many dentists’ issues come down to contractual obligations, the ADA can provide education on the nuances of doing business with dental insurance companies and how to empower themselves to make decisions best for their patients and their practices.


• Coordination of benefits is a constant source of confusion for many dental offices, and the Concierge is able to help answer questions and address concerns regarding COB.


• Another common concern from dental offices involves claim denials. While the Concierge may not be able to get a claim paid for you, it can provide assistance with the appeals process.


• Lastly, dentists have reported concerns with poorly written explanation of benefits statements and the Concierge can help dentists with EOB language questions as well.


ADA.org/dentalinsurance: Find on-demand webinars, articles and downloadable guides for common dental insurance issues including assistance with provider contracts, dental ben- efits questions, Bento in-office plans, the ADA credentialing service and CDT resources.


MDA Annual Awards Nominations due July 15, 2022


Brené Brown Kicks Off SmileCon 2022


Houston, TX, Oct. 13–15, 2022


The ADA is excited to announce that Dr. Brené Brown, researcher and author of six #1 New York Times best-sellers, will headline the Opening Session at SmileCon™ 2022.


Brené has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. Her TED Talk on the “Power of Vulnerability” is one of the top five most-viewed TED Talks in the world, with over 50 million views.


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Learn more about Brené and the Opening Session at SmileCon.org. Registration opens June 1.


he MDA is accepting nominations for the 2022 MDA Outstanding New Dental Leader, Distinguished Service and Dentist of the Year Awards through July 15. Only Component Societies and Standing


Committees of the Board (LRC and New Dentist) may submit nomina- tions, but we want to encourage any MDA member to send nominations to Margie Kunze and she will then forward those on to the component societies. From all submissions, it will be up to the component societies to determine their final nominees (Component societies or standing committees may submit only one member per category). Go online to modental.org/news for entry guidelines, eligibil- ity requirements and applications for each award in a PDF fillable form. For questions, contact Margie at the MDA.


ISSUE 3 | MAY/JUN 2022 | focus 13


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