November 2001 Newsletter

Being located in the center of the state has its advantages. We are able to draw quality speakers from the Greater New York, Greater Philadelphia areas as well as the suburban areas associated with these hubs. We also are able to maintain members because of …well the same reasons. That is members can live in Middlesex and practice elsewhere or practice in Middlesex and live elsewhere due to our strategic location within the state. We are also fortunate to have our state dental association right in our own backyard. We are utilizing all the resources available to us to create a complete "member friendly" component. Our goals have always been and will continue to be to give back to our members as much as possible.
Being on the cutting edge and being fiscally responsible, we print our own newsletter saving our component thousands of dollars that can be used in other areas like off setting dues increases.
We provide continuing education with our monthly meetings and our mentor program, which may serve as a model for a statewide study group. We also provide our full day continuing education course that is supported to a degree by corporate sponsorship. We have started and will continue to improve on a job bank to help our members keep their offices properly staffed.
We have had many members come forward to be part of our Executive Board. They have filled some key positions and their new ideas and enthusiasm are greatly appreciated. Our members are the foundation of our society and as we strengthen the membership, the membership will strengthen our society.

Attendance: Armento, Bloom, Brunsden, DeSciscio, Fahsbender, Glickman, Huberman, Kahn, Kline, Krantz, Lawson, Leizer, McLaughlin, Pollatos, Rosen, Rosenheck, Tauk, Weiner, Ziemba
Acceptance of Minutes-5/8/01-vote unanimous.
President’s Report-P. DeSciscio
• Dr. DeSciscio welcomed everyone to the first MCDS Executive Board Meeting of 2001-2002, and introduced four new members present; Drs. Armento, Pollatos, Tauk and Ziemba.
• Dr. DeSciscio read a letter from Dr. Nancy Villa requesting a six to nine month leave of absence from the board due to the death of her father.
• New life members, Dr. Raymond J. Bastkowiski, Dr. Edwin N. Galkin and Dr. Norman Nepo, will be acknowledged at the NJDA Officers Visitation in January 2002.
• Dr. Jeff Van Drew, an NJDA member, is running for the General Assembly in the First Legislative District. Support from fellow NJDA members is greatly appreciated.
• Dr. DeSciscio appointed Dr. Celi Ziemba to be the Annual Session Council and Dr. Anna Pollatos to be the Membership Council. Dr. Krantz will bring their names to the NJDA Board for approval.
Treasurer’s Report-R. Kline
• A motion was made by M. Weiner, seconded by R. Kline and accepted by the board to maintain the existing money market account with Magyar Savings for at least one year and reassess after that time.
Content Editor’s Report-M. Weiner
• The Bios for the MCDS Life Members will appear in the January newsletter.
• Dr. Wiser has renewed his ad in the newsletter and will continue advertising monthly.
• Due to the fact that we had not met since May and that many September Council meetings were postponed due to the terrorist attacks, new reports and information out of NJDA/MCDS were at a minimum in the October issue. As a result, it was decided by the Editors to make that issue only six pages long in order to be fiscally prudent.
Program-S. Lawson
• The October 16th General Meeting will have a cocktail hour instead of a business meeting.
• Staff Night was discussed. Casino Night may be used again this year due to last year’s positive response. There was a discussion regarding a buffet vs. a sit-down dinner. A final decision will be made next month.
ADA Delegate Report-J. Leizer
See full report in this newsletter
NJDA Trustee Report-D. Krantz
See important deadline notice on page 7.
Special Olympics-C. Brunsden
New Jersey Dental Association and the Special Olympics
• Please become part of this ‘win-win’ relationship between NJDA and the Special Olympics as they join together in a spirit of mutual support. Your financial support will insure the continued growth and development of this great organization as it provides so many opportunities to these special athletes. In return, you will receive the personal satisfaction of knowing that you directly sponsored this program as well as over 80-100 billboards throughout the state that proclaim, “NJDA Member Dentists Help Our Athletes Shine.”
Please become a part of this great campaign.
Contact: Cavan Brunsden, DMD at 732-679-2323
NJDA Council Reports:
Children’s Dental Health Month-C. Brunsden
Children’s Dental Health Month will be February 2002. There will be an organizational meeting for volunteers on Monday, November 19, 2001. Please contact Dr. Cavan Brunsden at 732-679-2323 if you are interested in participating in this preventive dental marketing program on behalf of NJDA.
Membership-A. Pollatos
In order to attract new members, the Council on Membership is announcing a statewide Colleague Program between existing members and new members in their first year, third year, and transfers to the New Jersey Dental Association.
The goal of the Colleague Program is to:
• Promote camaraderie and a feeling of belonging to the dental community.
• Introduce the benefits of organized dentistry, including the many resources that are available to help new dentists as they enter practice.
• Serve as a resource for practice-related questions and concerns.
Anyone interested can contact the New Jersey Dental Association @ 732-821-9400
Peer Review-J. Fahsbender
Two peer review cases were handled in September. Both were resolved by mediation.
Relief-E. Glickman
Dr. Rosen, the council chairperson of the NJDA Council on Relief has suggested that the NJDA Relief Fund contribute $1000 to the American Red Cross. On 9-21-01, Dr. Peter DeSciscio authorized that our MCDS component of the Relief Council approve the $1000 donation to the American Red Cross.
MCDS Committee Reports:
Corporate Sponsorship-R. Kline
A request was made to all members to please contact their suppliers, business owner friends, etc. regarding advertising in our MCDS newsletter.
Mentor-E. Glickman
Annual OSHA Seminar - We presented this course on Thursday evening May 10, 2001, at St. Peters Medical Center. This program satisfied the OSHA standard on Occupational Exposure to Blood Borne Pathogens, which is required annually for dentists and staff. Each office person trained received certification that they have been properly instructed for this OSHA regulation on Infection Control. Two CEU credits were awarded for the 159 people who attended this seminar. The Annual OSHA Seminar has become so popular that we had to close the May 10th course and we arranged an additional OSHA Seminar on Thursday, June 14, 2001, again at St. Peters Medical Center. We had 111 people who attended this second OSHA Seminar.
The Mentor Programs for Spring 2002 that are being developed are:
• Annual OSHA Seminars - May 2002 and June 2002
• Linda Lakin - Practice Management
• Productive Practice Inc. - Using the art of Feng Shui
• CPR and First Aid courses
• More information about the seminars will be in the future MCDS Newsletters
Respectfully submitted
Mitch Weiner, DMD, Secretary

New President-Elect is T. Howard Jones from Georgia
Budget & Business Matters
Dues for 2001 $ 420 a $19 increase from 2000. Along with the renovation assessment of $30 (second year of a six year assessment) the total ADA bill will be $ 450
1- Approved a survey on methods of providing health ins. for members on all levels of tripartite.
2- Executive director to prepare a report on current financing options for asbestos abatement and renovations to respond to future financial needs.
3-Study of endorsement policies to produce maximum non-dues income.
4-Study of e-mail forwarding system for members.
Communication and Membership Services
1- Approved a media relations outreach program.
2- Study for and ADA e-mail membership directory which will be available online. Members can choose to participate. No information will be given to any entity outside of the association.
3- Study of online searchable directory of members. Limited to name,address,phone number and specialty.
4- ADA block grants of up to $3000 per dental school in the state so that constituents can create a student recruitment program.
5- In the case of an existing member moving to a new area, it is urged that the constituent and component not charge further dues in the year that the move occurrs.
6- Streamline membership processing for new graduates.
7- Approved a tripartite grassroots membership initiative to get membership up to the 75% level by 2005. This is a program recommended by new President Greg Chadwick.
8- Approved a study of the annual session.
Dental Benefits Practice & Health
1- ADA to communicate its committment to improve patient safety. Work with other healthcare agencies in this regard. Disseminate information on patient safety to membership.
2- Study on feasibility and cost of a nationwide dental access month.
3- Amendment to the guidelines for utilization review.
5- When a third party payer changes a submitted dental procedure code, all outgoing transactions should show original code to prevent dentist from having inconsistent records.
6- ADA should endeavor to make ADA claim form and electronic claim form consistent as far as date content.
7- Authorize ADA to provide financial aid to any constituent that is fighting illegal dentistry.
8- Opposition to denturism. Urges equipment manufacturers and suppliers to develop guidelines that preclude them from transferring new or used equipemt to anyone engaging in the illegal practice of dentistry.
Dental Education
1- Approved a career guidence program to atttract and encourage students to pursue a career in the dental field. Materials should be sensitive to the recruitment of minorities.
2- ADA supports efforts to standardize administration, content and scoring of clinical licensing exams. Promote acceptance of one regional board with another.
3- Review dental specialty education and practice every ten years. Next review to 2011 House.
4- Specialty organizations and ADA recognize that dental specialty boards should monitor number of specialists and seek ways to increase the percentage of specialists who seek to achieve board certification. This attempts to deal with the faculty shortage of board certified specialists.
5- DEFEATED a resolution that would enable a dentist who did not graduate from an accredited school to receive a license by credentials.
6- Continue federal and state lobbying efforts on behalf of dental education.
7- ADA as well as constituents should develop a debt consolidation program that also includes an education component.
8- Encourages dental testing agencies to investigate offering clinical licensing exams to students in dental school. These exams should be offerred early enough to allow those who do not pass to remediate prior to graduation. Report back to the 2001 House.
9- Task force created to consider role of patient based and other potential methods for evaluating clinical competence for licensure. Report to Bd. of Trustees in Aug. and House in 2002.
Future of Dentistry
1- ADA form a coalition with other dental professional organizations to educate legislators about the need for economic support for individuals who wish to follow a career track into dental research and education.
2- Develop a coalition to support the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research as an independent and separate institute of the National Institute of Health.
Legal and Legislative
1- Passed the removal for cause section of the bylaws. Accused individual must be presented with charges and must have a hearing before being removed from a counsil.
2- Monitor development and support legislation that would permit professional societies and their members to be exempt from antitrust scrutiny for the purpose of collective bargaining.
3- Prepare and support legislation that addresses the disproportionately high levels of dental disease in lower socioeconimic populations.
4- ADA recommends that US Dept of Health and Human Services rescind the requirement to have interpretors for non English speaking patients treated under federal programs.
5- Help states that have a maldistribution of the dental workforce.
6- House is supportive of the ADA legal action against Aetna and any other third party entity that interferes with th doctor-patient relationship.
President's Address
1- Defeated a motion making the Immediate Past President an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees.
2- Passed a resolution allowing alternate delegates to serve on reference committees.
3- Passes a resolution dealing with election campaigns and a study of guidlines for funding campaigns.
4- Referred back to the board the study of restructuring Trustee Districts.
Scientific Matters
1- Undertake an action plan to address the issue of amalgam in dental wastewater. Provide a comprehensive report to the 2002 House.
2- Implement already developed ADA plan on uniform color coding of anesthesia carpules. Implementation time to be determined and reported to the 2002 House.
3- All products that contain latex or latex processing chemicals should be labeled.

As our communities became engulfed in the tragic events of September 11th, so too did our practices. I’m sure many of you, like myself, found your operatories occupants to be more tense than usual, and in some cases, harder to anesthetize than usual as a result. Soon after the domestic grounding of commercial air traffic, F-16’ s were heard streaking over our office rooftops in South Brunswick. Dentistry can be stressful enough to deliver without the atmosphere of uncertainty and national crisis.
Over the next several days, we were treated to miraculous stories of survival by patients (including one who had a piece from an airline seat land two feet from her!), my receptionist anxiously answering the ringing phone, praying that a request for dental records was not forthcoming. Our office was fortunate and to date have no patients missing. Some of my fellow MCDS friends were not so fortunate and received requests for patient records to assist in identification of remains.
As a member of NJ’s Emergency Forensic Dental Identification Team, I expected to be summoned to assist in the identification of remains and was in fact told to be ready to come. But as the days passed and only dozens of fatalities were discovered each day, it became apparent that at best it might be weeks before the team was activated due to the fact that the top dental forensic experts in the Northeast are already on the job and can handle the present workload; at worst, the future retrievable remains may provide minimal dental evidence and the team may never be activated. Providing closure for the victim’s families through dental identification of remains is not a glamorous job, but a necessary and moral one for ID Team members. The ID Team trains annually at NJDA Headquarters through lecture’s and mock disaster’s sponsored by NJDA’s Council on Dental Health. Many of the teams members completed the annual week long Forensic Dentistry Training Course given in late winter by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C..
As dentists, this tragedy must force us to evaluate our patient records and ask several questions:
1. Are our chartings accurate and up to date?
2. Are our records as detailed as they can be?
3. Do we have a full mouth series on our patients that is current?
4. Have we noted any anomalies in patient charts that may assist in the identification process (retained primary teeth, supernumerary teeth, agenesis, unusual root morphology)?
I sincerely hope that we are never in a position to have to hand over our patient records to assist in mass disaster identification, but at the same time this experience should raise all of our antennae as to the reality of the new world that we live in, and our obligations to the patients that frequent our practices.
-Mitch Weiner

From the NJDA Board of Trustees Meeting:

The deadline for license renewal has been extended to November 30. However, this does not pertain to anesthesia permits and PCS permits. Remember, any license not renewed within 30 days of its expiration date shall be suspended without a hearing.

DUES REBATE FOR MCDS MEMBERS

For the second year in a row, MCDS is helping to offset the ADA dues increase with our own MCDS dues abatement. This is in part due to fiscal prudence on behalf of the board, savings from in house printing of our newsletter and corporate sponsorship/advertising revenue. MCDS dues will be $131 or the base $150 that we normally assess minus the $19 to offset the $19 ADA dues increase. NJDA will have no net dues increase for 2002.

Congratulations in Order

MCDS congratulates Treasurer Dr. and Mrs. Ross Kline on the birth their twins (boy and girl).

MCDS Congratulates Dr. and Mrs. Richard Rollman on the birth of their twins (boy and girl).

MCDS Congratulates President-Elect Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Huberman on the birth of their son.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR WTC
DISASTER
FORENSIC DENTISTRY

The NYC Medical Examiners Office (Dental Division) is in need of dentist volunteers (no experience necessary) to assist in the identification of remains related to the WTC Disaster. Eight hour shifts.To volunteer, call Dental Division of Medical Examiners Office at (212) 447-4381

In Memorium
MCDS Executive Board extends its condolences to Vice-President Dr. Nancy Villa on the
passing of her father.

	(9/30/01)	(10/15/01)
CHECKING	17,031.86	15,262.80
Money Market	51,127.57	51,127.57
TOTAL	68,159.43	66,390.37

November 2001 Newsletter

President's Message

A Component Positioned for Success

MCDS Board of Trustees Report

Treasurer's Report

Balances

NJDA Board of Trustees Report

Other Reports

Editorial

Announcements