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 and Distinguished Service. 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.
Dr. Marlene FeisthamelDentist of t Year
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. Feisthamel is being recognized for her efforts to advocate for continuing community water fluoridation, which was being considered for removal this past spring by her Public Water Supply District (PWSD). Ultimately the PWSD voted to discontinue flu- oridation, however, her leadership on the issue caused the water board to delay its removal of fluoride, to give proper notice of its intention and to hold a public hearing, all of which had to do to be in compliance with a recently-passed statute, supported by the MDA, which called for a 90-day notice of a vote to modify a water system.
Dr. Feisthamel received her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1994. Dr. Feisthamel practiced in Aurora, Mo., for 10 years prior to moving her practice, Feisthamel Family Dentistry, to Battlefield in 2004. She also completed a Master of Science Degree in Applied Anthropology at Missouri State University in 2012 and currently assists local authorities with forensic dental and anthropological identifications. Dr. Feisthamel is originally from Brookfield, Mo., and has a daughter Dusty and son-in-law Rick.
You’re being acknowledged for being an advocate for community water fluoridation in Battlefield, Mo. There are a lot of important issues that come before a community and before the dental profession. What made you want to get involved with advocacy for this particular one? To be honest, I really didn’t want to get involved. This was the second time the Community Water Fluoridation issue has come up in Battlefield. As the only dentist in town, I felt obligated to speak for my patients, the community and our profession.
24 focus | NOV/DEC 2017 | ISSUE 6
Our Water Board acquiesced to a poll of the District patrons in favor of fluoridation in 2006. At that time, there was little opposition to water fluoridation in our community. However, with the advent of Internet communication and social media platforms, the anti-fluoride sentiment and misinformation has spread quickly and it is very difficult to dispute successfully.
In addition, the public generally isn’t aware of the decrease in dental decay that water fluoridation has provided. Ironically, Community Water Fluoridation is such an inconspicuous method of delivery and has worked so well over the years that the public no longer perceives the threat of dental decay it has prevented.
Ultimately, the vote was to remove fluoridation from the Battlefield water supply. While the advocacy effort did not create a “win” for fluoride, what are some lessons learned you might share with readers who may face a similar challenge in their community in the future? I learned several things during this process, and while every situation is different, I think these points are universal. Do not do the research yourself; it’s already been done. Our organizations all have great information on the benefits of CWF and answers to the anti-fluoridation claims: ADA, MDA and American Fluoridation Society.
Find an effective communication avenue for your community. You need to have a large contingency of stakeholders to sway the decision makers.
Identify the issue. Why are they discontinuing? Is it education? Is it funding? Try to be helpful and eliminate objections.
Identify funding. You’re going to need it for communication expenses and, possibly, fluoridation equipment costs if this is an impediment to continuation.
Don’t engage with anti-fluoridation movement; you won’t convince them, and it gets emotional. Empathize, but direct your expertise to the decision makers only.
Of all activities you're participating in right now, what are you most excited about being a part of and why? Of all the community service
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