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Staff Night Videos (Courtesy of Ethan Glickman) (Clicking on the links will download the videos to your computer)
For pictures and advertisements, see the newsletter in PDF format
Dr. Setzer graduated from Dental School in Germany, in 1995, where he also received his doctoral degree in 1998. He pursued his endodontic specialty training at the University of Penn. He is teaching as Assistant Postgraduate Program Director at the Department of Endodontics of the University of Penn. He has published in national and international peer-reviewed journals, and lectures nationally and internationally. He serves as a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Endodontics, The Journal of the American Dental Association and Journal of Implant and Advanced Clinical Dentistry.
Many practitioners face the decision of when to treat a tooth endodontically or when to extract it and place an implant. This lecture discusses the new role of endodontics in an era that is more and more shaped by implant supported dentistry. It reviews changes in the treatment spectrum for endodontists as well as in the dialogue between endodontist and general practitioner, and provides evidence based data for a sound decision making between a natural tooth and a dental implant. At conclusion, participants should be able to compare the differences between tooth or implant supported treatment planning, make an educated decision between endodontic treatment options and tooth extraction followed by a dental implant and understand the importance of an interdisciplinary treatment planning approach.
I wish to extend greetings to all the members of the Middlesex County Dental Society. I hope you all have enjoyed this hot summer. It is with excitement that I look forward to this year as president of our society. It is a tremendous honor to be in this position, and I thank in advance all of our members serving on our executive board and representing us on committees. Their commitment to this organization keeps our component held in the highest respect throughout our state association. I'd like to congratulate Dr. Richard Kahn for completing a great job as President of the NJDA this past year. This is just another example of the positive impact we can and do have as a component of NJDA.
We feel we have assembled a great list of speakers for our annual continuing education program, as well as all of the annual and new programs organized and presented by our mentor committee. Our fall all-day course will be on October 19th, just in time for the biennial license renewal. Dr. John Ruel will be speaking on making implants the treatment choice for replacing missing teeth in your practice. I encourage you all to take advantage of these terrific opportunities you are privileged to as members of MCDS.
This is a particularly exciting year for MCDS. It is this coming year, 2012, that we will celebrate our 100th year in existence. It is through the sacrifice, commitment, and efforts of many current members and our predecessors that such an impressive organization could thrive and contribute to our profession for so long. I am happy to announce that we have plans underway for recognition and celebration of this tremendous milestone, including a dinner-dance anticipated to take place in January. Stay tuned to our newsletter and website, as well as our Facebook page for announcements pertaining to upcoming celebratory events.
As back in our days of being in school, it is that time of year to fire up our engines at MCDS and join together in professional camaraderie and friendship. I look forward to seeing you all in the upcoming weeks at our first meeting as your president, and I extend an invitation to all of our membership to become involved in our society as much as you can. It is our membership that sustains us as an organization. I also remind you of the need, more than ever, to contribute to PAC. In these economic times we face many challenges, and there has never been a more important time for our profession to be represented in Trenton. It is the strength of organized dentistry that supports our profession and commitment to our PAC that gives us a voice. With that, I welcome you all to another great year in the rich history of the Middlesex County Dental Society.
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-5/10/2011-
Attendance: Ashmen, Bernstein, Brunsden, Glickman, Goldstein, Krantz, Mir Madjlessi, Prabhu, Rizzi, Savage, Schambra, Silverstein, Simos, Villa, Vora, Weiner and Marlene Glickman
Acceptance of Minutes-vote unanimous
President's Report-Maya Prabhu
The results of the CE questionairre were discussed. The Tanaka course was favorably received by the majority of attendees. The Board decided to mail copies of the questionnaires to the speaker for recommended improvements. The MCDS reception at Ocean Place resort will be held at 7pm on Friday, June 24th, 2011. All MCDS members are cordially invited to attend.
The 5 members of the new Marketing Committee (to organize our CE course promotion) are as follows: Maya Prabhu (chair), Education Coordinator (Devang Modi), Continuing Education Chair (Mark Schambra), Corporate
Sponsorship Chair (David Stein), and Mentor Committee Chair (Amit Vora or Nima Mir Madjlessi).
Dr. Sanjeev Satwah will be the MCDS representative to the Council on New Dentists. He is replacing Dr. Mitch Weiner, who has been elevated to Chairperson of this Council.
Treasurer's Report-David Stein
See the full report on page 3.
NJDA Trustee's Report-Mark Vitale
See full report on page 5 under NJDA Noteworthy News
NJDA Council Reports:
Membership-Tara Savage, Devang Modi
The Council on Membership met on April 28, 2011.
NJDA has 4,243 members as of April 28, 2011. This is down 96 from last year at this time.
Tricia DeCotiis announced that NJDA will be submitting an application for the ADA's Membership Program for Growth. The ADA will be reviewing the applications and selecting several states to allocate money to be used for membership growth. The NJDA membership growth plan will focus on select ethnic/gender groups, in particular Indian and female dentists and members of the Indian Dental Association of North America-NJ (IDANA-NJ) and the American Association of Women Dentists-NJ (AAWD-NJ). These groups have experienced rapid growth in New Jersey over the last decade. 29% of NJDA's non-members are female and 71% of the 174 members of the IDANA-NJ are not members of the NJDA. The NJDA will be partnering with these societies to offer resources to support their membership needs. For example, the NJDA may offer lecturers from our membership or updates on state board news for publication in their newsletters. The NJDA will also seek to participate as an exhibitor or meeting sponsor at their meetings.
Tri-county requested that the NJDA reconsider the dues waiver policy. Specifically, they requested a change to the policy which allows a non-member to join and submit a request for a waiver the first year of membership. NJDA will not be changing the current policy since they do not feel it is an issue at this time since it does not happen often.
Peer Review-Sandy Goldstein
There were no new cases assigned nor mediated last month.
NJDPAC-Mark Vitale
On May 9, 10 and 11 The PAC executive board attended the ADA Washington Leadership Conference in Washington DC. Three days were spent in meetings with other State PAC representatives, ADA and ADPAC executives, and Legislators.
In particular the NJ contingency met with Sen. Menendez and Congressmen Andrews, Runyan, Smith, Garrett, Lance, Rothman, Frelinghuysen, Holt, Sires.
The three main speaking points centered on legislation proposed by the ADA:
1-The American Dental Association (ADA) urged our legislators to cosponsor and support passage of the "Patients' Freedom to Choose Act", (H.R. 605/S. 312), which would repeal the limitations put on Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
H.R. 605/S. 312, which repeals Sections 9005 and 10902 of PPACA and section 1403 of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, is a commonsense way to let consumers choose how much they will set aside to pay out- of-pocket health care costs. The FSA provision of PPACA runs counter to the law's intent of making health care more affordable. This bill would correct that, restoring to consumers a greater degree of control over their health care expenses.
If out of pocket costs for traditional medical insurance exceeds the newly established $2,500 annual limit, consumers will be faced with hard decisions about the affordability of additional health care costs like vision and dental care. Hundreds of thousands of Americans — many of whom have middle-class incomes — rely on medical FSAs to cover these rising out of pocket health care costs.
FSAs are particularly important for patients with chronic illnesses, who often see multiple providers and take multiple medications to maintain their health and avoid costly complications. For these patients, even nominal cost-sharing can quickly add up; FSAs can help them meet these obligations.
2-The McCarran-Ferguson Act adversely affects the public by exempting insurers from some federal antitrust laws. H.R. 1150 would bring the insurance industry into line with other American businesses by eliminating the special treatment granted to insurance institutions almost 65 years ago with passage of the McCarran-Ferguson law.
H.R. 1150, the "Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2011," introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-an ADA member dentist) would repeal this unfair exemption and restore application of the federal antitrust laws to the business of health insurance to protect competition and consumers.
The need to curtail the rising cost of health care coverage is universally acknowledged. One way to do this is to provide consumers with more coverage options. Passage of H.R. 1150 would help encourage competition in the insurance marketplace by fostering greater federal antitrust enforcement against the insurance industry when state regulators fail to act. Allowing insurance to artificially increase prices discourages the kind of innovation and variety in the marketplace that would occur in an atmosphere of robust competition.
H.R. 1150 would eliminate the special treatment that the insurance industry has enjoyed for 65 years, and bring the industry into line with virtually every other American businesses sector.
3-The ADA urged legislators to co-sponsor and support the "Breaking Barriers to Oral Health Act of 2011 introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) and Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR).
Most Americans have access to the best oral health care in the world and, as a result, enjoy excellent oral health. But tens of millions still do not, owing to such barriers as poverty, geography, lack of oral health education, language or cultural barriers, fear of dental care and the belief that people who are not in pain do not need dental care.
Good oral hygiene, early diagnosis, preventive treatments and early intervention can prevent or halt the progress of most oral diseases. But too many people simply don't know about basic and largely affordable measures for preventing disease.
The "Breaking Barriers to Oral Health Act of 2011" is designed to help oral health stakeholders at the state and local levels form public-private partnerships to improve oral health education and dental disease prevention and reduce the many other barriers to oral health care. The bill also offers support for local and state programs that provide free dental services.
At a time of fiscal constraints, it is important that H.R.1666 targets very limited federal resources closer to the end user. Local and state entities eligible for funding are in the best position to understand what can be most effective in improving oral health in their communities and how to successfully leverage the relatively modest federal grant money that would be made available in this bill with state and local resources.
Other areas of discussion included the CDC's plans to downgrade the Division of Oral Health to a branch and the effect that this change would have on the ability to advance health promotion and dental disease initiatives in the US; a bill that would advance dental coverage in state Medicaid programs; and a bill to advance TORT reform.
I will keep you informed as these initiatives advance, and you should feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. This three day event is just one example of how your PAC dollars are being spent. If have yet to contribute this year, please do so immediately as we need a lot more than the current 30% participation by our member dentists.
Committee Reports:
Corporate Sponsorship-David Stein
A consensus was reached to create a Google Document that could be accessed by Board Members that would enable securing and confirming corporate sponsorship for upcoming lectures online. The task to create such document was given to Dr. Silverstein and it is hoped that sponsorship becomes a collective effort of the Board.
Mentor-Amit Vora/Nima MirMadjlessi
Our next bi-annual OSHA program that satisfies the OSHA standard on Occupational Exposure to Blood Borne Pathogens, which is required annually for dentists and staff, will be given on June 2, 2011 at St. Peter's Medical Center, New Brunswick.
Two CEU credits are awarded to the Dentists & staff members attending these 2-hour seminars. These seminars are available to our members & staff for $25/pp as a member benefit of MCDS.
A very big "Thank You" to Dr. Joe Fertig, Director of Dental Services - St. Peter's Medical Center, for arranging all our room accommodations for the MCDS OSHA-Mentor programs at St. Peter's Medical Center in New Brunswick.
Dental Hygiene Study Club-Alyssa Bernstein
The Central New Jersey Dental Hygiene [CNJDH] Study Club met on Wednesday May 4, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rte 27 South, Edison NJ and was sponsored by the Middlesex County Dental Society. The speaker was Dr. Tom Viola presenting a lecture on pharmacology, specifically diabetes and periodontal disease. Two CEU credits were awarded to the 25 hygienists that attended this meeting.
The next CNJDH meeting will be on Wednesday September 21, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Edison. The lecture will be presented by Dr. Reich on Treating Perio with laser. Two CEU credits will be awarded for this seminar.
This CNJDH study club is available to our hygienists as a Dentist-member benefit of MCDS.
Please contact Marlene Glickman, our Exec.Sect'y for MCDS, at # 732-238-1255 for additional information and registration in advance for the program.
Old Business
Centennial Celebrations: A sub-committee for the centennial celebration of MCDS was formed to plan an event in the academic year 2011-2012.
Good and Welfare
Dr. Ethan Glickman resumed his position on the Board as member in charge of the Relief Committee and as an alternate delegate of the society. We welcome him back!
Dr. Mitchell Weiner was offered the position to Chair the Council on Governmental Affairs. We are proud to be represented at the state level by such a competent and knowledgeable member of the society. During his term as our representative to the council he has been stellar and earned the respect of the entire council, Jim Schultz and Art Meisel.
Dr. Prabhu thanked the Board for its collective talent and cooperation that made this year of her presidency a memorable one.
Respectfully Submitted, Nainesh Desai, Secretary
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Dr. David Stein
April 30, 2011
| 4/30/10 | 3/31/11 | 4/30/11 | |
| Checking | $9,760.90 | $36,782.01 | $23,386.10 |
| Savings | $35,797.41 | $24,153.37 | $24,160.32 |
| PayPal | $9,723.33 | $12,546.29 | $17,062.35 |
| TOTAL: | $55,281.64 | $73,481.67 | $64,608.77 |
| P&L STATEMENT CHECKING ACCOUNT | |||
| (4/1/11-4/30/11) | |||
| INCOME | |||
| CONT ED-INC | 1,820.00 | ||
| CORP SPON-C.ED | 8,000.00 | ||
| MENTOR COMM.-INC | 150 | ||
| DUES | 3,499.32 | ||
| INTEREST | 1.63 | ||
| NJDA BBQ | 480 | ||
| STAFF NIGHT INC | 1,530.00 | ||
| TOTAL INCOME | 15,480.95 | ||
| EXPENSES | |||
| CONT ED EXP | 21,430.02 | ||
| DINNER MEETINGS | 4,364.46 | ||
| LECTURE FEES | 1,600.00 | ||
| EXEC COMM DINNER | 309.39 | ||
| OFFICE SUPPLIES | 382.5 | ||
| REFUND | 90 | ||
| TELEPHONE | 251.79 | ||
| POSTAGE | 96 | ||
| TAXES | 350 | ||
| OVERALL TOTAL | -13,395.91 | ||
| P&L SAVINGS ACCOUNT | |||
| (4/1/11-4/30/11) | |||
| INTEREST INCOME | 6.95 | ||
| OVERALL TOTAL | 6.95 | ||
| P&L PAYPAL MONEY MARKET | |||
| (4/1/11-4/30/11) | |||
| CONT EDUC INC | 1,041.39 | ||
| MENTOR COMM-INC | 218.17 | ||
| STAFF NIGHT-INC | 3,343.89 | ||
| CONT ED EXP | 87.39 | ||
| OVERALL TOTAL | 4,516.06 | ||
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MCDS Members in the News
Dr. Diana Bucolo is a finalist for the Golden Heart Award, the top prize for unpublished fiction in the nation in her genre, for her thriller, Spy in the Mirror.
Dr. Diana Bucolo thinks of herself as a modern day Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Just like the famed mystery writer of Sherlock Holmes novels, she began writing her own mystery/thrillers while waiting between patients. Instead of a know-it-all detective, though, her heroine is a female spy-in-training who travels the globe from Hong Kong to Paris.
Dr. Bucolo's efforts have resulted in three novels in the same series and two more manuscripts in different genres. While still unpublished, her work has received a great deal of praise and several top prizes. This year she is nominated for the top honor in her genre, the Golden Heart Award. She also won the 2011 Silver Quill for the best suspense novel in the Wisconsin Fab Five contest. Last year she won second place in the Northeastern Ohio Cleveland Rocks contest and for another manuscript won the prestigious Jack Reid Award from her region of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
After a car accident, Dr. Bucolo was forced to retire from dentistry earlier than she'd anticipated. "I'm hoping this can be a new career for me. It'd be wonderful to see my books in print."
With four writing awards and an interested publisher, her dream may not be far off. Right now she is working on a new manuscript about a forensic odontologist, drawing upon her own training post-9/11 at the Armed Forces Institute of Forensic Pathology.
"Writing mysteries and thrillers might be easier as a dentist. We're trained to look for the smallest details – to put together a complex collection of medical history and findings to figure out the real culprit when a patient presents to us."
Unfortunately, the economy and bookstore closings have made it more difficult than ever to get published. Dr. Bucolo, however, remains undaunted. "Getting into the right college, working for top grades, just to get into dental school is a challenge most people can't master. Dental school is incredibly arduous, if I can do that, I can do this, too."
When asked if her experiences as a dentist have helped her writing in any other way, she said, "Fellow writers and editors are always surprised at how well I take criticism. But, anyone who's gone through first year lab courses in dental school gets over being criticized pretty quickly. My dental training gave me the tenacity to work through multiple rewrites until the book was right."
Dr. Bucolo remains a member of the Middlesex County Dental Society.
In Memoriam
Thomas Stark
Thomas O. Stark died Sunday, June 26, 2011, at Hunterdon Medical Center. He was 58. Dr. Stark was born Feb. 25, 1953 in Perth Amboy, a son of Morris and Martha Stark. He resided in Lebanon for 21 years before moving to Flemington a short time ago. In 1983, he received a Doctor of Medical Dentistry from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Dr. Stark owned and operated his dental practice in Somerset for many years.
He earned the honor of becoming a Fellow of The Academy of General Dentistry. In 2007, Dr. Stark earned the honor of becoming a Diplomat of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, a distinction that very few dentists have in New Jersey, that is Board Certified to treat obstructive sleep apnea with oral appliances.
He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed biking, skiing, fishing and hiking.
He is survived by Patricia Eginton-Stark of Lebanon; his daughters, Erin Stark of Cambridge, Md.and Megan Stark of Lebanon; his son, Kyle Stark of Lebanon; and his sister, Madeline Pan of Metuchen.