Misischia was great at getting you to think critically about what you were doing. I was fortunate enough to work with a number of these amazing individuals with the MDA after graduation including Drs. Seaton and Sokolowski as well as the late Drs. Poeschl and Rapini. They helped to instill in me the importance of organized dentistry.
Is there a specific achievement in your dental career that you are most proud? I’ve been very proud and fortunate enough to be part of the continued expansion of our EFDA program. We have a very tried and true program in this state that is the envy of many others. As we continue, I’m a firm believer that the OPA is going to continue to be helpful in providing patient care in a safe and effective manner.
What is the best advice you’ve been given related to your dental career? Treat each patient as if you were treating a member of your family.
Why do you want be MDA president? I once had a past president tell me “You’ll know if it’s for you and you’ll know the right time”. I had another tell me that you know you’re becoming the old guy at the table when you start offering the voice of “past experience” perspective. Serving as New Dentist Trustee, Treasurer and LRC chair, I came to have a great understanding of what this association actually does for our profession: the advocacy we constantly must have, the fires we put out, the changes we make legislatively to help protect and secure our profession. I see it as an incredible honor to be able to lead this charge for a year as your MDA president.
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 like to see the results of continued EFDA improvements our associa- tion has made stand the test of time. The OPA model has always been something I have been excited about since learning about the Kansas model years ago. Being involved with it in Missouri — from side discussions to where it is now as a pilot project in the Missouri Dental Practice Act — is incred- ibly exciting. We have developed a safe and effective program that has been upskilling our dental team since the mid-1990s, and
look what we have accomplished. We have one of the most proactive expanded func- tions programs in the country and are always continuing to try to improve it. This question reminds me of Art LaFleur in The Sandlot, “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” EFDA is a legend.
There are a lot of changes happening in the MDA and ADA. Can you tell us about why these changes are important for growth and what impact you hope they will have for the future of the Association? As we continue to see a decline in membership, we need to be working on two fronts, of which Missouri is an active participant.
First is our advocacy. When I first started serving on the Board of Trustees in 2013, our membership was 76.3 percent. Our most cur- rent numbers place us at 58.2 percent. While this is extremely alarming, we continue to be strong legislatively. This comes from our history of being a trusted advocate for the profession and for patient health. Some of our most successful years legislatively have been recently.
Second is our financial stability. Our budget is currently 55 percent funded by non-dues revenue. These come from various branches of our organization, including sponsorships and dividends from MDIS as well as our EFDA program. For any association to be strong, we must have good fiscal responsibil- ity. Being a past treasurer, I can say that we are constantly putting our budget under the microscope. Dr. Mack Taylor has been no exception to the rule and continues to be a great fiduciary.
How did you first become active in (invited to) organized dentistry? What are the reasons you have stayed involved? A guy by the name of Paul Roberts (you all may know him) called my office one day back in 2011. He asked me if I would be interested in serving on the New Dentist Committee. That commit- tee formed the first Connect4Success at the Four Seasons. At that meeting, I was invited to have cocktails one evening with Drs. Jody Vance, Dan Kessler and Ed Norman. It was off to the races after that. After one of the CE sessions at C4S, I was standing on the balcony with Drs. Sarah Mahaffey and Maz
Moshiri talking about needing a new dentist trustee for the Board which ended up being me. Long story short, not saying “No” can take you a lot of places.
None of us like to waste time or be unpro- ductive. This association has had a major impact on my life and practice. The friends we make along the way, relationships with colleagues, and changes we make to our profession are the reasons I stay involved. I would like to think I have given back to the association that has given so much to me along the way.
If a non-member asked you why they should pay dues to belong, what would you tell them? Our profession has been protected for decades by our oral healthcare authority voice at the state and federal levels. Member- ship is continuing a worrisome decline. As that number continues down, we begin to lose our voice at the Capitol with the market share of dentists we represent. We are begin- ning to rely on herd immunity. That will only last for so long before we become back- ground noise to our legislators. Once that happens, many changes to our profession can happen, and quickly, without our voice being heard. Advocacy continues to be the No. 1 reason for my membership and that of many others. If you enjoy the benefits of autonomy, it should be yours too.
Of all your current activities — dental, civic, personal — is there something you are par- ticularly excited to be part of? The thing I’m most excited about is our pilot project with the Oral Preventive Assistant. I’m a huge advocate for the EFDA program. While we face a nationwide workforce crisis, the EFDA program has continued to be a vital part of our profession in Missouri to help with this issue. When, not if, OPA is part of the Dental Practice Act, I believe we will have another expansion of this program to aid in making sure the patients of Missouri are safely seen in reasonable time. While there are some dentists who don’t utilize EFDA, that type of choice is the true beauty of our profession. We are still respondeat superior and captains of our ship.
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
ISSUE 2 | SUMMER 2025 | focus 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
