{ association insights } by Dr. Jeremy Bowen, MDA President


Our Goal: Helping All Members Succeed


meeting to June, to coincide with the MDA Connect4Success meeting. This change was made with much discernment and advise- ment from members; it was felt consolidat- ing these two events could provide much improved synergy for our Association. As the MDA goes forward we will see what additional changes could be made to make this event even better. I want to thank the Board of Trustees for all the work they have put in the first half of the year. It has been a busy and fruitful time, as the Board and staff have been busy working on the agenda items from the 2022 House of Delegates. In the next few paragraphs, I will outline some of the progress, changes coming forward and excitement I have for our Association.


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We had a full slate of legislative priorities for this session. After two years of pushing for reform of dental network leasing, Senate Bill 45 made it across the finish line. The final language is the result of several rounds of negotiations with Missouri’s insurance coali- tion and Delta Dental. I wish to thank the hard work put forth by Dr. Ron Wilkerson and the LRC for their due diligence and to Olivia Wilson our MDA Legislative Liaison. This legislation will go into effect August 28 once signed by the Governor. Unfortunately, our virtual credit card legislation met too much opposition from legislators and leader- ship who were favorable toward insurance to advance this year. On the appropriations side of the legislative report, we had some good gains. Last year’s enormous increase for reimbursement rates for Missouri dental Medicaid providers was maintained in the FY24 Budget. Also, Donated Dental Services


12 focus | SUMMER 2023 | ISSUE 2


e have had many changes this year. One of the biggest was moving the annual House of Delegates


funding has been maintained in the FY24 budget. We did have an increase in funding for the Elks Mobile Dental, to $700,000 from the prior $200,000. As well, there was a new decision made for the Smiles of Hope Dental Clinic in Dexter. It was funded at $1 million for next year.


The Missouri Dental Board, at its April meet- ing, approved a request to support a pilot project to study an Oral Preventive Expanded Functions Dental Assistant (EFDA). The re- quest was made by Dr. Jackie Miller, Director of Oral Health in the Missouri Office of Dental Health. We thank the Dental Board for allowing this pilot as one way to consider new methods to address workforce shortages and allow increases in access to care. The next steps the MDA will undertake for the pilot program will be developing curriculum modeled after the Indian Health Services curriculum. Sites will need to be identified to test the use of an OPA. We will educate eli- gible clinical staff using the OPA curriculum. There will be clinical and testing protocols to establish. At all times, the pilot will ensure competency of clinical staff. The project will collect data on clinical outcomes including the number of more advanced cases treated by hygienists and dentists.


I am very excited from the report Dr. Em- ily Mattingly gave the Board regarding the Task Force on Re-Envisioning the MDA. Last August, then MDA President Dr. Tom Stone appointed Dr. Mattingly to chair this task force, with the goal to assess both the state of the profession and the state of the association, and then to dream broad strokes about a preferred future that delivers continued relevance, engagement and value to members. There were three main sub- groups were formed. The first group was on Advocacy, Public Image and Other. This group recommended creating customized com- munications. This could include podcasts, or explaining advocacy funding and its impact on lobbying. One other thing was an “Ask a Specialist” program. This could help new dentists when they have a question about treatment or even mentorship.


The second group was Structure, Governance and Leadership. This group discussed mak- ing changes in how the House is run. They also talked about implementing free-flow Component membership. This included how we can facilitate a welcoming stance for members in any component to participate anywhere they may choose.


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