Awards and Recogniio

The MDA Awards banquet is hosted each year in conjunction with the House of Delegates. It’s a special event where pride in the profession is on center stage. In addition to recognizing members who’ve served on the Board of Trustees or have reached milestone years of membership, the event honors members for their contributions to the dental profession and their community—through awards for Dentist of the Year, Outstanding New Dental Leader, Distinguished Service and Presidential Citation. We thank all award recipients for their efforts on behalf of the dental profession and Missouri citizens, as well as those who attended the banquet—member colleagues, family and friends—to honor the work of these individuals and of the collective membership.

Dentists of t Year DR. ROBERT BUTLER

The MDA Dentist of the Year award is designed to recognize a member dentist who has demonstrated outstanding service to the Association, to the profession of dentistry and/or to the community in the past year.

Dr. Robert Butler, a general dentist in Webster Groves, was named the 2016 MDA Dentist of the Year. Dr. Butler is being recognized for being an advocate for the dental pro- fession, specifically for his leadership role in the past year as Chairman of the Delta Dental of Missouri Board of Directors. Additionally, Dr. Butler has consistently demonstrated loyalty to the dental profession and to his local, state and national dental associations.

Just a few of Dr. Butler’s numerous professional activities include UMKC Dental Alumni Association Trustee, ADPAC Board Member and Action Team Leader, MDA Delegate, former MDA Speaker of the House, former vice president and member of the Greater St. Louis Dental Society Board of Directors. Dr. Butler was a member of the Delta Dental of Missouri Board of Directors prior to being elected Chairman in 2015.

He received his DDS from the UMKC in 1984 and the following year completed a GPR at Jewish Hospital, St. Louis. He has maintained a private practice since in Webster Groves. Dr. Butler and his wife, Tina, have two school-age sons, PJ and Noah.

You’re being acknowledged for being an advocate for the dental profes- sion within your leadership role in the past year as chairman of the Delta Dental of Missouri Board of Directors. What do you feel is the most important work the Board has done, during your chairmanship, to help its provider members? With the help of our other Delta Dental

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dentists board members, we have taken the position that an economi- cally healthy vibrant dental profession is mandatory for the continued success of Delta Dental of Missouri. There are pressures in the dental benefits market in the form of competition where we feel we have a unique advantage by having actual practitioners providing input on the strategic plans of the company.

You participate in a variety of leadership roles in the ADA—as an Action Team Leader for the ADA Washington Leadership Conference, as an ADA Delegate, and for ADPAC, as current Membership Com- mittee chair and Board member. What is something that has surprised you about your involvement? What is something you have found to be invaluable to the dental profession that occurs on a more micro-level that the average dues-paying member may not realize? Several years ago, Dr. Charley McGinty and I attended the ADA Candidate Campaign School in Washington D.C. I was able to translate the skills and techniques learned at that conference to successfully run a write-in effort so that Dr. Josh Whitford and I could join the board as new voices to repre- sent the membership of the MDA. The most invaluable aspect of my involvement has been the ability to make friends and share ideas with colleagues from across this country that would never had occurred, had I not volunteered to serve the dental profession that I love so much.

Of all your activities—dental, civic, personal—what current activity in your life are you most excited about being a part of and why? My passion about dentistry and advocacy are well known. However, the part of my life that I am and will continue to be most proud of is my family. Family comes first. I would trade my entire career in dentistry to have one more day to spend with my wife, Tina, and my sons, PJ and Noah.

As you continue being a leader in organized dentistry, what is something you’d like to be involved in or see accomplished? Where do you feel most that there is more work to be done—both from an organizational and individual member standpoint? My greatest wishes are for the everyday member to be more politically involved—only 68 percent of our mem- bers are even registered to vote! Less than 20 percent contribute to