Back to the table of contentsSpeaker || President's Message || MCDS Board of Trustees / Committee Reports
Treasurer's Report Detail || NJDA State Board of Trustees Report
For pictures and advertisements, see the newsletter in PDF format
Dr. Harold Baumgarten received his BA from Brooklyn College in 1973 and his DMD degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977, where he was a member of OKU and the Matthew Cryer Honor Society. He continued his post-grad studies at Penn, receiving his certificate in Periodontics in 1981 and Periodontal Prosthesis in 1982. He has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles and textbook chapters. He is an internationally recognized speaker on the topics of implant prosthodontics, advanced restorative dentistry, esthetics, occlusion and computers in dentistry. He holds the positions of Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Post-Graduate Implant Prosthodontics, University of Pennsylvania and Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Dentistry, Medical College of Pennsylvania.
Modern Prosthodontic concepts have changed from those of Periodontal Prosthesis. The notion that teeth must be saved at all costs has changed in the light of the dramatic success rates of osteointegrated implants. Today, cosmetic as well as functional issues are driving the treatment planning process. The questions we ask ourselves include: when is a tooth prosthetically hopeless and when should we save a tooth at all costs? This lecture will address issues such as these and delve into: the effect of a patients periodontal tissue type on the decision making process; the use of an implant vs. a bridge in the esthetic zone; the amount of tissue needed to place a cosmetic implant restoration; and whether implant therapy can be streamlined.
Every time I go to www.MCDSofNJ.org, (name: mcds, password: sy) I’m very impressed with not only the information available, but with the quality of the layout and design of our web site. We didn’t have to use our valuable dues money to pay a web site design and maintainance company to create and update our site. One of our talented and generous colleagues donates his time and effort every month and every year to provide this incredible member benefit. Dr. Bob Silverstein has made a tremendous contribution to the Middlesex County Dental Society with all of his work on our web site and newsletter in conjunction with Dr. Mitch Weiner. In house production of our newsletter by Bob and Mitch has saved our society many thousands of dollars over the last several years. This savings has helped to build a healthy treasury which gives us the ability to offer many low cost, high quality continuing education programs. These programs are organized through the tireless efforts of Dr. Ethan Glickman, Dr. Jim Courey, Dr. Mark Schambra and Marlene Glickman. The efforts of our volunteer members have molded the MCDS into what it is today. Our society is constantly improving the services provided for our members. Please remember to say “Thank you” to all of these hard working folks now and then, it will be appreciated!
Nancy Villa, President
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-January 13, 2004-
Attendance: Ashmen, Brunsden, Galkin, Kahn, Kline, Krantz, Lawson, Silverstein, Simos, Villa, Weiner
Acceptance of Minutes-vote unanimous.
President’s Report-Nancy Villa
Next week, during the NJDA Officer’s meeting, Greg Sabol and the Shadowers from Rutgers will attend. Fotinos Panagakos from NJDS will also attend to demonstrate the E-curriculum.
Dr. Michael Dill, president of Central DS, offered an invitation to all MCDS members to attend their general meeting with Dr. Vince Kokich on single tooth implants. The meeting is February 10th (Tuesday) and the cost would be for dinner only. Contact Dr. Tony Chin at 908-222-3337 for more information.
The Middlesex County Economic Opportunities Corp. is looking for a dentist to operate out the their facility in North Brunswick to provide dental services to children of low income families.
The officers of NJDA will be happy to discuss any topics of interest to us at next week’s meeting.
After many years of dedicated service, Harmon Katz will be passing on his council position on Governmental Affairs.
Treasurer’s Report-Stephen Lawson (See full report in newsletter)
NJDA Council Reports:
Children’s Dental Health/GKAS-Cavan Brunsden
• The 37th annual Nurses Education Night will take place on Thursday, March 18th at 7 p.m. at the NJDA building. Dr. Lawrence Dobrin will be speaking on Early Recognition of Child Abuse Injuries. This program is open to MCDS members and their staffs as well.
• County wide elementary school poster contest (K-5) will take place in February.
• March 7, 2004 will be NJDA Family Day at the Circus
• April 15th will be the Annual Poster Contest Awards Ceremony at the Old Bridge High School East Campus Auditorium. Grand Prize is a $500 savings bond.
Give Kids A Smile-Wednesday, February 4, 2004. This is a national program.
• A day of volunteer dentistry provided to needy children and access to dental care problems.
• UMDNJ sites, Hospital Residency, Hygiene Programs, Private Practices
• Every member of MCDS should consider volunteering to support this statewide program, especially younger practitioners who would like to build their practices.
Membership-Scott Galkin
We will be sending a special edition of our January newsletter to MCDS non-members.
Committee Reports:
Corporate Sponsorship-Constantine Simos
Tri-State Dental Supplies and Equipment, and Asteto Dental Labs will be at our February meeting.
New Business:
Dr. Kahn moved and Dr. Weiner seconded that MCDS will reimburse any of our Delegates for one night’s stay at the NJDA Annual Session (at the convention rate), provided that they attend the NJDA house of delegates meeting as an official component representative. Unanimously approved.
Dr. Krantz is running for the position of NJDA Treasurer, not Secretary as previously reported.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert Silverstein,
Secretary
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(11/1/03 – 12/31/03)
Checking 9,519.49 4,788.16
Money Market 57,394.61 57,485.42
TOTAL 66,914.10 62,273.58
P&L STATEMENT CHECKING ACCOUNT
(11/1/03 – 12/31/03)
INCOME
Corp Spon-mtngs 400
Corp Spon-newsletter 125.00
Dues 262.50
Interest Earned 3.69
Mentor Comm-inc 392.50
TOTAL INCOME 1,183.69
EXPENSES
Dinner Meetings 2,307.00
Dinner Mtng Lect Fees 500.00
Exec comm Dinner 228.01
Executive Secretary 1,173.00
Dues Refund 126.77
Mentor Comm Exp 1,032.90
Mentor Comm Lec Fees 400.00
Office Supplies 2.88
Name Badges 52.95
Taxes 25.00
Telephone 66.51
TOTAL EXPENSES 5,915.02
OVERALL TOTAL -4,731.33
P&L MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT
(11/1/03 – 12/31/03)
INCOME
Interest 90.81
TOTAL INCOME 90.81
EXPENSES
Transfer to Checking 0.00
TOTAL EXPENSES 0.00
OVERALL TOTAL 90.81
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Computer Networking For Dental Offices
•Wired networks for digital imaging and front office software applications
•Wireless networks for home and office
•VPN solutions for remote access, 2nd office connectivity, and remote data backup
•Upgrading of existing equipment
•Installation of software updates
•Design, purchasing, and installation of computers and networks for dental offices
Contact John Murphy: 732-371-3011
Receive this newsletter electronically
SAVE THE DATE FOR AN IMPORTANT
MCDS SPECIAL EVENT- FULL DAY CE COURSE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2004 at the PINES MANOR in EDISON
Featuring Internationally Known Speaker DR. VINCENT KOKICH, Professor of Orthodontics at University of Washington in Seattle/Private Ortho Practitioner in Tacoma, Washington
INTERDISCIPLINARY MANAGEMENT OF ANTERIOR ESTHETIC DILEMMAS: WHEN, WHY, AND HOW?
Orthodontists, periodontists, surgeons, and restorative dentists often have pre-determined goals regarding the esthetic relationship of teeth that may differ from that of the patient. A recent study shows that lay persons may not notice certain problems (such as midline discrepancy, unequal crown length, incisal plane asymmetry, “gummy” smile, altered incisal inclination, “black” triangles, and crown width discrepancies) that dentists and Orthodontists strongly believe should be resolved. Is there a threshold level, where these discrepancies are noticed by both lay persons and dentists? Are there discrepancies that are not noticed by either dentists or lay persons and should remain untreated? If these problems are to be treated, what are the roles of the orthodontist, periodontist, and restorative dentist? How, where, and when should tooth position be altered to accommodate for future restorative dentistry? This presentation will use many clinical examples to resolve these dilemmas and describe the interaction that is necessary among clinicians to establish the ideal result for even the most difficult esthetic discrepancies.
Council On Dental Benefits
The council met on November 19,2003
CRP statistics were reviewed. Carrier request for refunds was discussed. As long as a dentist submits a claim in good faith, accepts payment without knowing there is a mistake, and does not have a contract with the carrier that specifies return of overpayments, case law has held that a practitioner is an innocent third party and is not responsible to return the money.
The council reviewed the Horizon EOB message “alternative services were available and should have been utilized”. The council felt that it is inappropriate for this to appear on EOBs. Horizon has agreed to remove this message from its’ EOBs.
SNODENT (systematic nomenclature of dentistry) was discussed. This is the ADA’s diagnostic coding system, which is advocated as the preferred diagnostic coding system for dental claims. This is to be included in the next version of the HIPAA standard transactions and code sets. More details were reported in the Capsule. Most likely the ADA will offer presentations as they did for the HIPAA privacy issues. This will essentially result in a diagnosis code as well as a procedure code for each procedure performed.
Direct Reimbursement was reviewed. The ADA House of Delegates report concluded that marketing DR produces positive benefits and enables the ADA to promote freedom of choice and fee-for-service dentistry without disparaging other dental benefit systems.
“Give kids a smile”, which takes place on February 4, 2004, was discussed. This program is intended to help meet the dental needs of children under the age of 17. Nineteen percent of uninsured children have unmet dental needs compared to six percent of children with public health insurance.
Dentists are encouraged to abide by Best Management Practices for amalgam waste. NJDA has a list of recyclers. Please refer to the summer 2003 issue of the NJDA Journal for more details.
The council discussed the ongoing problem that oral surgeons have with coordination of benefits between medical and dental policies. The NJDA will initiate discussions with DOBI to clarify this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark A. Vitale, DMD
DENTIST WANTED
The Middlesex County Economic Opportunities Corp. has developed a dental facility as part of their childcare program at 578 Livingston Ave. in North Brunswick. They are seeking a dentist looking to establish a practice to provide dental services to low-income families in return for very modest rent to cover basic utilities. All inquiries should be directed to John Smolinski at 732-846-6600 ext. 226
DEADLINE NEAR FOR REDUCED RATE ON FULL DAY COURSE
The deadline for the $65 early registration fee for the MCDS full-day course on Wednesday, April 14th with Dr. Vincent Kokich is on February 15th. This is an unbelievable member benefit offered due to the outstanding efforts of our full-day continuing education chair Dr. Mark Schambra. Mark is an MCDS past-President and put together the very successful Dr. Dennis Tarnow lecture last winter as continuing education chair. The amount of work that goes into organizing such a quality course and setting up corporate sponsors is surely deserving of widespread support from our membership. With most full day courses in the $275 range, this course is a steal for NJDA members from other components as well, who will pay only $110 with early registration by the deadline. We are appealing to the entire membership to not only come out and support this course yourselves, but also to invite one or more NJDA-member friends from other components…you’ll be doing them a favor as Dr. Kokich is regarded as one of the countries top speakers. SEND IN YOUR REGISTRATION NOW!!! COURSE FEES GO UP AFTER FEBRUARY 15th!!!
GIVE KIDS A SMILE
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2004
On Wednesday, February 4, 2004, NJDA member dentists, their staffs, and other dental-related organizations will provide a wide range of dental services, free of charge, to needy children ages 12 and under at many dental sites across the state.
You can volunteer your skills at either a UMDNJ site, a hospital residency site or even use your office as a site. The hope is that this will dramatically increase the number of sites and dental professionals who will participate.
Dental professionals who are interested in volunteering their time, services and/or offices for the day can register by downloading a form from www.njda.org/GKAS, calling the GKAS Hotline at (888) 576-9278, or going to www.ada.org to sign up.
We look forward to working together to deliver a world-class program here in New Jersey, and to touching the lives of New Jersey’s children in need.
Children’s Dental Health Month: Save the Dates
March 18, 2004 Nurses Education Night, NJDA building - 7 PM
April 15, 2004 Poster Contest, Old Bridge High School East Auditorium- 7 PM
Congratulations In Order
MCDS Executive Board congratulates MCDS past-President Dr. Philip Engel on being inducted as President of the NJ Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He was inducted by his father, Dr. Jerome Engel, who served as a past-President of the NJ Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons as well.
NJDA Family Day
At the Circus!
Sunday, March 7, 2004
“The Greatest Show on Earth”
at theContinental Arena!
Celebrate Children’s Dental Health!