Among the various dental activities that span your career, tell us some of the experiences that have been the most rewarding and why? I have enjoyed all of them, but I think when you can help a new dentist to have success and become involved in their profession that is the most rewarding. To see the next generation of dentists step up and take leadership roles is quite enjoyable. Dentists are some of the best people in the world and being able to work with them to move our profession forward is just fun!
You’ve participated in a variety of ways in the organization, most recently as the ADPAC Chairman in 2015. What surprised you most about this role? In all your ADA leadership experiences, what have you found to be invaluable to the dental profession that occurs on a more micro-level that the average dues-paying member may not realize? There were no real surprises. During my 6 years on the ADPAC Board, I was privileged to work with many very talented dentists. Eight years ago, there was only one dentist in Congress. Today there are four, and your ADPAC Board played a big part in getting those talented dentists elected. I’m sure most members do not realize how sophisticated our help is. Using direct contributions, fundraising events, and targeted independent expenditures, we were able to make the difference that got these four Dentists elected to Congress. I’m sure three of the four would not be in Congress today without ADPAC’s support.
Some would describe the current U.S. political environment as volatile and there may be a tendency to want to withdraw from participating. What would you say to your dental colleagues to encourage they “stay in the game” and if they are new dentist just getting started in the profes- sion, to “get in the game”? America’s dentists provide the highest quality dentistry in the world for our patients, but our government makes the laws and rules we must follow—not only for the care of our patients but also for the business that we run. Dentists across the nation have said that they want advocacy to be job one for our association at both the state and national level. All dentists, young and old, must speak with one voice united for our patients and our profession. We are the best advocates for quality oral health in America and we cannot sit on the side line while someone else makes the important decisions that affect our profession and oral health in America. We must always be in the game, no matter what the political climate is.
Of all activities you're participating in right now, what are you most excited about being a part of and why? That is quite easy: Being grandparent is one of the real joys in life. It doesn’t get much better than watching your grandchildren grow up and enjoy life. We took our children and grandchildren on a Disney cruise this year, and I’m not sure who had the most fun. My youngest daughter is a general dentist in Kansas City, and I have really enjoyed talking dentistry with her and mentoring her to the best of my ability. She just opened a brand new dental office in Kansas City this month. It goes without saying that I am a proud father and grandfather.
Do you feel like your leadership career and roles is coming to a close? Is there still something you’d like to be involved in or see accomplished within the Association (at the local, state and/or national level) that you feel hasn’t come to fruition? I think you keep doing what you love. That is what gets us up in the morning and keeps us going. There are many wonderful opportunities for us to serve our profession and community. I am a founding member of Club 137 in Washington D.C. It is an advo- cacy group, and we plan to continue to grow the Club to aid our advo-
cacy effort on the national level. There are a few other things I plan to devote more time to in the future. I also think it is important to move on and let other dentists have the opportunity to serve. Membership is the most important issue we face in our Association today, and we still don’t have all the answers needed to solve this most important issue.
Have you been involved since being a new dentist, or did your involve- ment come later? In either case, what encouraged you to participate in more leadership roles and what would you say to mentor others aspiring to a similar commitment as yourself? When I was a young dentist there was no New Dentist Committee. There were no seats on any committee or board set aside for students or new dentists. I had two dentists who encouraged me to get involved, my mentor Dr. Donald Crockett, who I had the great privilege to practice with for more than a decade and Dr. Bill McAllister, an MDA past president. My first job was a Chairman of Children’s Dental Health Month. If you want to be involved, get involved at the local grass roots level. Meet the dentists and learn their names at the local level.
Tell us your favorite hobby/pastime, food, travel destination, book and movie. I like action movies and books. My favorite movies are the James Bond 007 series—all 26 movies. Sean Connery is my favorite James Bond. I like Clive Cussler’s NUMA files books and there are 17 of them. We like to travel. This year we went to Paris and Israel last year we went to Cuba. Next year we are going to the ADA meeting in Hawaii. I like all sports. Donna, my wife, is a University of Oklahoma graduate and we have season tickets to the OU football games. We play golf when we can, and we like to take a short golf vacation in the winter to somewhere warm. We have a lake house that we use year around and a ski boat for the summer.
Legislative Excellence Award
Senator David Sater and Representa- tives Jay Barnes and Wanda Brown
Three Missouri lawmakers were honored with the 2017 MDA Legislative Excellence award: Senator David Sater (R-29), Representative Jay Barnes (R-60) and Representative Wanda Brown (R-57). All have been friends to the dental profession throughout their legislative careers, but the trio was specifically acknowledged for their support of Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) legislation in the 2017 session. The MDA supported this common-sense, science- based bill, which changes the frequency of CBCT inspections from annually to once every three years. The legislation, which became law this August, lessens the inspection burden and cost for dental practices using this imaging technology.
Senator David Sater
Representative Jay Barnes
Representative Wanda Brown
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