{ association insights } by Jeremy Bowen, DDS • MDA President


Dr. Jeremy Bowen Installed as 154th MDA President


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ongratulations to Dr. Jer- emy Bowen, a general dentist in Independence, who was installed as the 154th MDA president


on November 5, 2022 at the MDA House of Delegates. As president, Dr. Bowen will preside over each quarterly Board of Trustees meeting, but also represent the MDA at vari- ous component meetings and at events of other dental stakeholder groups. The MDA president also serves as an ex-officio member on the Missouri Dental Insurance Services Board and as a voting member on the MDA Foundation Board.


Dr. Bowen practices at Dental Arts in Independence and is a 2007 graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry. Since then, he has been an ac- tive member in the ADA, MDA and Greater Kansas City Dental Society, where he is a past-president. Prior to this MDA office, Dr. Bowen served as MDA President-Elect and Legislative and Regulatory Committee Chair, and as Greater Kansas City Dental Society Trustee to the MDA Board. He is a mem- ber of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and a of the Fellow of both the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the American College of Dentists.


As is tradition, Dr. Bowen has answered a set of interview questions to help you get to know him better.


Please give us a biographical overview; where you grew up, went to school, live now, family, etc. I grew up in Independence, Mo. and en- joyed playing football, basketball and baseball in the summer. When I was a teenager, I had a Kawasaki KX125 dirt bike I enjoyed racing for several years. I now live a few miles away my practice in Kansas City with the love of


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started seeing patients during my third year in dental school, I had a faculty member tell me what he thought has helped him during his career. He said just ask the patient what is wrong, and they will tell you what it is and how to fix it. That one thing I think has made our treatment acceptance rate 100 percent.


Why did you want be MDA president? When I first started on the MDA Board, I was the LRC chair. The legislative advocacy the MDA does is amazing. I saw firsthand how impact- ful and important this is for our profession. I believe self-regulation and advocacy are two very important factors to keeping our association great.


my life, my wife of 19 years, Christine. We have two sons, Jackson and Carter (16 and 13), and one daughter, Juliette, who is 12. We also have five dogs, as my wife has failed as a foster dog mom four times.


What motivated you to decide on a career in dentistry—what was your career path? My mom has worked in dentistry as an assistant and front office coordinator since before I was born. So, I basically grew up in a dental office. One year when she worked for Dr. Stan Hite, I would get dropped off after school at the basement of his dental office as my after-school daycare. My mom then worked for Dr. Jim Elias. He was my child- hood dentist growing up. Seeing how much fun he had at work and his ability to help change people’s smiles was very motivating to me. When I was 15, I worked part time in the summer at his office and that is really when I began thinking about dentistry as a career. And the rest is history.


What is the best advice you’ve been given related to your dental career? When I first


What is something you desire to accomplish during your term as President that you hope will have lasting results beyond your tenure in office? I would really like to see improve- ments in membership. I think retention of members is very important. One way to accomplish this is to improve on communi- cation. To communicate what we do, what we have done, and where we would like to go. Also, enabling members to communicate in a more effective way with each other. This will help to build and encourage camaraderie and growth between members of differing parts of the state. We also need to see new members join the association. We do a great job in building relationships with our dental students in the dental schools. Showing them the value and benefits is a must. Lastly, to make all dentists feel included and wanted, regardless of how they practice; we need to foster these relationships to gain their trust in membership.


What do you feel are opportunities for growth and change within the MDA in the next year? We have formed a Re-Envisioning Commit-


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