October 2006 Newsletter

9/12/06
Attendance: Brunsden, Chustckie ,Courey, Fahsbender, Fertig, Galkin, Glickman, Leizer, Nandra, Prabhu, Rosen, Rosenheck, Silverstein, Simos, Stein, Villa, Vitale, Weiner.
Acceptance of Minutes-vote unanimous.
President’s Report-Robert Silverstein
• Nine of our members will be honored in January for attaining Life Member status. They are: Pete Clemente, Edward Gewiss, Carl Langbert, John Lawson, Jr., Joseph Lukacs, Jr., George McLaughlin, Vincent Noonan, David Rabinowitz, and Michael Schemick, Jr. • One of my main focuses as President will be to fully develop the Rules of the Board section of our web site. I see the wheel being reinvented all too often, wasting time, effort and money. With everyone with a Board position contributing to this effort, we will make it much easier for ourselves and the people who come after us. • I have recently represented MCDS at the Annual Session, as well as the NJDA Budget Hearing meeting. • I spoke with Art Meisel regarding the scheduling of our Board meetings, and we are able to meet in the NJDA Board Room for the remainder of our meetings this year. I have asked him to notify Colleen, who schedules the Board room events, to reserve the Board room for us for subsequent years.
Treasurer’s Report-Scott Galkin
See full report on page 3.
Editor’s Report-Mitch Weiner, Bob Silverstein, Constantine Simos
Pete Clemete’s name was inadvertently left out of the list of Executive Club contributors to PAC in our newsletter. We apologize for this oversight. I am aware of the typo in the Full Day Course page. This has been corrected for future issues.
The deadline for submissions for the October 2006 issue will be Wednesday, September 20th. All submissions received after the deadline will be deferred until the November issue. The September issue was very time-consuming to put together as MCDS and NJDA have many courses/member benefits to promote. We will limit the number of new advertisers so as to trim back the growing number of pages of each issue. - Bob Silverstein
After over 10 years of overseeing the compilation of the MCDS Newsletter, I will be stepping down as your content editor upon the completion of the May 2007 issue to free up more time for other endeavors. - Mitch Weiner
Website Editor’s Report-Bob Silverstein
The issue sent to non-members is available for viewing on the Archives section of our web site. As you may remember, Life Members can now submit their bios via the web site.
Program Chairperson’s Report-Bob Ashmen
MasterGraphx is printing and mailing a tri-fold application form for the all-day courses for the 2006-7 schedule (Nov, Mar, and Apr) to a regional list of dentists in NJ. Special thanks to Dr. Silverstein for his time and effort creating the tri-fold layout.
ADA Delegate’s Report-Joel Leizer
• Mark Feldman of New York, who has served as the ADA Treasurer for the past six years is running unopposed for the ADA President-Elect position.
• Harris Colton, from New Jersey is running for ADA Second Vice-President. This is a two year position where the winner of this election will be a voting member of the ADA Board of Trustees.
NJDA Trustee’s Report-Nancy Villa
See the full report on page 8.
Give Kids a Smile-Cavan Brunsden
The GKAS program scheduled for February 2007 will be a statewide event designed to provide access to dental care for those children in need. Last year’s GKAS program was a resounding success with 280 dental chairs at 32 sites managed by over 600 volunteers that provided care to 3000 children valued at over $400,000. We will expand our 2007 program by adding all of the dental residency programs in the state so as to better provide access to those children in need. Please make plans to add your efforts to this NJDA program so that you can join us in making a difference in the lives of the children that we serve. Call me personally at 732-679-2323 or at [email protected] for more information
NJDA Council Reports:
Dental Benefits-Mark Vitale
See the full report on page 4.
Membership-Scott Galkin
The MCDS membership committee is electing a sub-chairperson to be in charge of recruitment and retention of the GPR residents at Robert Wood Johnson and JFK hospitals. For our September general meeting, we will enlist our senior/experienced members to invite and welcome new members to the meeting. MCDS will be cosponsoring a weekend study club with NJDA, entitled “After Dental School 101: What Do I Do Now?” on Saturday, December 9, 2006. The three featured speakers are all MCDS members; Dr. Cavan Brunsden, Dr. Hugh Habas, and Dr. Mitchell Weiner. The membership committee is developing a marketing program to send our newsletter to “targeted” non-members and is also developing a membership brochure that will highlight the benefits of membership in organized dentistry.
Oral Cancer Screening-Arpan Nandra, David Stein
Dr Arnold Rosenheck presented an informative lecture on Oral Cancer Screening protocols to the Board. Information on how to conduct such screenings will soon be posted on the MCDS website.
Peer Review-John Fahsbender, Mark Vitale
A certification course for Peer Review will be conducted on November 1st at the NJDA Headquarters. Any one interested may attend.
Relief-Ethan Glickman
The Council has agreed to donate $20,000 on behalf of the NJDA members to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Committee Reports:
Corporate Sponsorship-Constantine Simos
Corporate Sponsorship looks strong for the 2006-2007 year. Sponsors are being organized for all of the monthly meetings and CE programs. Sybron Endo will sponsor the September meeting. Both Smith Barney Financial and AFTCO will advertise in the newsletter for the whole year. If you know of a vendor who might be interested in sponsoring the society please refer them to Dr Constantine Simos.
Budget and Finance-Ira Rosen
Committee will meet to prepare Budget for October’s meeting.
Mentor-Ethan Glickman
OSHA Seminar was presented at St. Peter’s Medical Center on 6-22-06. We had 41 Dentists and 104 staff attend.
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 to those attending this 2-hour seminar. This seminar is available to our members as a member benefit of MCDS.
Our next OSHA Seminar will be held on November 9, 2006 - see the insert in this newsletter.
Continuing Education-Mark Schambra
The speakers, topics, locations, times and fees for our three full day courses have all be set. Bob Ashmen should has contacted the outside printer for the separate mailing.
Good & Welfare
Congratulations are in order: Dr. Mark Vitale will be married on September 16, 2006 and Dr. Arpan Nandra was married this past summer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Maya Prabhu, Secretary

NJDA Noteworthy News

Membership-Trish DeCotiis has great plans for NJDS students this year including “Dental Jeopardy,” junior and senior lunch and learn sessions and a senior session on licensure with Kevin Earle, Exec. Director of the State Board.
Council on Nominations-Dr. Krantz presented a resolution to change the make-up of the Council on Nominations to include the elected officers and the immediate past president. It was revised to not take effect until 2008 so as to not appear self-serving in any way. This will be presented to the house in Nov.
Peer Review-Art rewrote the code of ethics to reflect that it would be a breech of ethics to not follow through with the Peer Review Council’s recommendations. In addition any dentist who signs a peer review consent form and does not abide by the final decision of the peer review process shall be reported to the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry.
Council on Relief-The House of Delegates approved changing the constitution to allow distribution of funds to disaster areas outside the state as approved by the Council on Relief and then the BOT for a 2/3 vote. ADOPTED by the Board (Vote #5 BT-06-8-29) to send the $20000 donation from the NJDA Relief Fund to the ADA Foundation earmarked for the Katrina Fund.
Governmental Affairs-The Council name has been changed to the Council on Public Affairs. The DEP published that amalgam separators will be required to be installed except in offices limited to ortho, perio, endo, oral surgery, radiology, and pathology. We have two and a half years from Sept 5, 2006 to comply. The entire ruling is on the NJDEP’s web site. A bill was proposed by Bergen County legislators to add a RDH and a RDA to the state board and NJDA has been blocking this change. We have asked commissioner Jacobs to help us move the Fluoride issue forward. Mercer dental assisting school was to be closed since they haven’t been filling their classes (this year 1 student and 4 faculty). NJDA has started helping to fill the classes and in doing so discovered that the local guidance councilors didn’t know about the program. NJDA has collected over $300,000 for PAC which makes us the fifth most powerful group.
Communications-A pro fluoridation article will be published in the Bergen Record. It will be written by Jennifer Hughes, their writer who grew up in Grand Rapids which was the first fluoridation site in the US. A new magazine called “Dr. of Dentistry” will be sent to all dentists for free and Bob Shekitka, our president, will be writing an article for the first issue. Bob is pushing for positive publicity of dentistry during his term. The new directory of members will be published in November and dues must be paid by July 3l to be included. NJDA’s web site has been updated to allow access to the most pressing information with only one click. However, a prompt will then appear for your password. (This gives nonmembers another reason to join.) In addition, streaming video capability is being added at no additional cost.
Annual Session-Temple University had a very-successful alumni reunion at the annual session in AC this year. The Council will reach out to NYU, Penn, and Columbia to offer the opportunity to also participate next year. Dr Ruth will be next year’s special guest speaker.

Attention:
Volunteers needed for
local MCDS Community
Outreach Oral Cancer
Screenings.
If interested in helping with this
worthwhile cause,
call Marlene at 732-238-1255

Answers to last month’s puzzle
JET•NOISE•PIPE•CSI
A•WEIRDALGINATE•TO
DRILL•OI•V•DRASTIC
ACNE•ALLABOUT•PAR•
•P•VPS•SILICONECUT
TRIALS•S•A•ENO•TPH
RESTINPEACE••G•••E
OPTOM•RANK•Y•••••E
P••RP•ESNA•ANTHRAX
I•FSTOP•ANDREAS••E
C•THORAX•DRNO•T••S
AARON•RAMBO•N•••OF
L•OE•MANILOW•••PMI
•LOST•TALULAH•PEEL
SAP•A•IDLE•S•EAGLE
HY•AL•OUI•LASER•ES
ALAMO•N•O•ABSOLUT•
WARANDHANDPIECE•••

Council on Dental Benefits

-CRP Statistics was reviewed from January 1, 2006 through May 31, 2006. There were 52 complaints submitted to NJDA; 19 were resolved, 6 were for data purposes, 26 are pending and 1 was not resolvable. The council noted that the number of MetLife complaints is decreasing.
-Delta Dental CA: X-ray processing: The council reviewed the letter from ADA’s Council on Dental Benefit Programs to DDP of California. The letter upheld NJDA’s position that DDP’s policy of changing procedure codes for single periapical x-rays when submitted with bitewings is inconsistent with CDT-2005.
-X-Ray Guidelines and Carrier Benefits: The council discussed the 2004 revision of the guidelines for prescribing dental radiographs, specifically the guideline that recommends bitewing exams at 24-36 month intervals for adults with no clinical caries or risk factors. Dr. Iserson indicated that he had heard that the Delta Dental Plans Association is considering limiting benefits for bitewings to once every two years. The council discussed this possibility, especially in light of the guideline applying only to healthy adults with no risk factors, a small percentage of dental patients. Further, since the current claim submission does not include diagnosis codes, the limitation of benefits would be applied to all Delta enrollees, regardless of health status. The council requested that NJDA send a letter to Delta Dental of NJ, with a copy to the ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs, to go on record as opposing any further limitation since benefit availability is often a determining factor for patients in agreeing to treatment.
-National CRP Statistics: The council reviewed a memo from ADA indicating that New Jersey is the only state that is currently sharing third party problems with the ADA Council on Dental Benefits. Staff noted that New Jersey is also the only state that has a formal tracking system and a program to assist dentists. However, complaints to ADA are similar to NJDA’s experience with carriers. While it is logical that the plans with the highest number of enrollees would generate the most complaints, the council noted that MetLife was the only plan that generated a large number of complaints based on consultant review.
-ADA/Emdeon Benefits Project: The council discussed the difficulty of compiling an easy reference for dentists as it relates to carrier contact information, since many large self-insured groups have dedicated claims offices and/or telephone numbers. While all plans do have website addresses on which dentists may make eligibility inquiries, navigating the various websites can be daunting. Staff reported that a possible solution would be through Emdeon (an ADA sponsored “Member Advantage” program.) Emdeon now offers a feature on its website (www.emdeondental.com) that offers information on eligibility and benefit details for most major plan enrollees, which is available to dentists for a fee regardless of whether they submit claims electronically. Staff gave the council members a special promotional code that will enable them to “test-drive” this feature and report back to staff on their satisfaction with it. If feedback is positive, staff will contact Emdeon in an attempt to obtain a promotion code for all NJDA members for a set period of time, and will include that information in a future issue of the Capsule. Following is an excerpt from the last Capsule article with the promotional code.
“For a limited time, Emdeon has graciously agreed to allow Capsule readers to “test-drive” the new DPS features at no charge. Interested members can simply register at www.emdeondental.com or contact its Marketing Department at 888-545-6127. It is important to note that when you enter your credit card information, you must also enter the promotional code ANJ06116. The system will acknowledge that no charges will be made until 12/1/06 based on the code. It will then be up to each dentist to decide whether or not to continue with the service after 11/30/06. NJDA has had no negative feedback to date, but the Council would certainly appreciate hearing from you.”
-Evidence Based Dentistry: The council discussed several grants awarded by the ADA Foundation for recipients to review and consolidate scientific literature related to four specific questions, including frequency of dental prophylaxis, correcting malocclusion and the risk of periodontal disease, alternate treatments of a pulpally involved single tooth, and endodontic therapy vs. extraction and implant placement.
-ADA Proposal For A New “Dental Team Member”: The council discussed ADA’s proposal for a new dental team member, described as an “innovative answer” to the access to care problem experienced in remote and underserved areas of the country. Unlike the “Dental Health Aide Therapist” (DHAT) advocated by some groups for Alaska, the ADA-proposed “Community Dental Health Coordinator” would work under the supervision of a dentist and would be unable to perform irreversible treatment. It appears that allowable duties would be confined to selected preventive services, oral health education, triage, and emergency temporization using hand instrumentation only.
-Mandated Health Care Coverage: The council reviewed, as informational, an article indicating that legislators are reviewing the recently enacted statute in Massachusetts that requires all residents to have health insurance. Employers in Massachusetts having 11 or more employees would be required to pay into a state system if they did not offer health coverage. At least two New Jersey legislators have reported that they will be meeting with employers, consumer groups, health plans, providers, and other stakeholders over the next six months to determine if a similar mandate would be feasible in New Jersey.
-Oral Systemic Health-CE Course: Staff reported that the council’s request to the Council on Education to consider a weekend study course on oral-systemic health was approved. Dr. Robert Hersh has agreed to make that presentation, which is scheduled for September 17, 2006.
-NPIs Required for Electronic Transactions by May 23, 2007: you can apply at www.npps.cms.hhs.gov. Please note that you must have separate NPI’s for each dentist in a practice along with a separate NPI for a corporation if you are set up as such.

Your Support for NJ Dental Political Action Committee Gives Us A Voice in Trenton

This is a pivotal year for organized dentistry in New Jersey. Anti-fluoridationists are accusing dentistry of pushing water fluoridation so that children will develop fluorosis, providing us the opportunity to benefit financially from more cosmetic dental services. The NJDEP is close to mandating amalgam separators in dental offices and Passaic County dentists are already receiving inspections and fines based on their silver recovery methods from their X-ray developers. Based on the states fiscal health, Governor Corzine has already planted the possibility of a professional services tax that may eventually involve dentistry.
This scenario is not propaganda. It is reality for us as dentists in New Jersey. The NJDA and NJDPAC have worked tirelessly to repeal the cosmetic dentistry tax implemented last year and lobby on our behalf to minimize the impact of current legislation on our livelihoods. However, our PAC has its work cut out for itself. With so much upcoming legislation and overregulation to combat, our NJDPAC must be funded to its maximum potential.
With NJDPAC restructured to include 4 levels of contributions ($150-Sustaining Member, $300-Diamond Club, $500-Platinum Club, $1,000-Executive Club), we urge you to consider increasing the level that you currently contribute at to assure that our PAC lobby has the proper access to the legislative candidates and legislators that will vote on the issues that are vital to our interests as New Jersey dentists. Middlesex County Dental Society members have been among NJDPAC’s strongest supporters and we must continue to be proactive by strengthen our commitment to NJDPAC.
We encourage you to contact NJDPAC Executive Director Jim Schulz at 732-422-2705 if you would like to learn more about NJDPAC or these important issues affecting New Jersey dentists. Your added contribution is an investment in holding back legislation that may be exponentially more costly to you if implemented.
Thank you for your consideration and your strong support for our PAC.
Peter DeSciscio DMD, NJDPAC (Middlesex County Dental Society)
Mitch Weiner DMD, ’06-’07 MCDS Governmental Affairs Representative

Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act

The recently enacted Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act imposes an affirmative duty upon all licensed health care professionals, including dentists to notify the Board of Dentistry if they have reason to believe a fellow professional suffers from an impairment, shows a high degree of incompetence or has engaged in unprofessional conduct presenting an immediate danger to an individual patient or to the general public health or safety. N.J.SA. 45:1-37 (a). This new obligation is consistent with the existing ethical obligations of dentists (See ADA Ethical Principle 2D), but it is the first expression of a legal reporting duty and the first time that the failure to report impairment, incompetence or unprofessional conduct may, of itself, be grounds for the Board of Dentistry to discipline the non-reporting dentist - seeking civil penalties or the suspension or revocation of license. N. J.S.A. 45:1-37(a). The primary thrust of the law seemed to be the need for prompt reporting of dentists potentially suffering from chemical or drug dependency, yet the language of the law extends the reporting duty to any circumstances where you have reasonable knowledge of acts of unprofessional conduct or gross incompetence that might present an ongoing danger to patient health or safety. Thus, practitioners showing clearly inadequate clinical skills, those attempting procedures plainly beyond their abilities, those dispensing or prescribing controlled dangerous substances or other dangerous medications in an indiscriminate manner or without sound dental practice justification, or those engaging in improper intimate contact with a patient may all fall within this mandatory reporting obligation.
We anticipate that important questions will arise over “what is reasonable knowledge”, “how do I distinguish reportable impairment or gross incompetence from an isolated incident or misadventure” and “what constitutes an immediate danger as opposed to a hypothetical risk”. The Board is expected to promulgate rules or policy guidelines in order to clarify ambiguities likely to arise in the application of this new law. Generally, however, practitioners should err on the side of caution in favor of reporting a questionable practice or circumstance, rather than allowing a known problem to persist unchecked. In this regard you should consider encouraging the practitioner to self report his or her impairment or conduct.
Those who report impairment, etc. to the Board will enjoy a so-called “qualified immunity” from civil lawsuits for damages. Immunity may dissolve, however, unless the report is made “in good faith and without malice” or if there was no “reasonable cause to believe” the reported matter involved professional misconduct that would be subject to professional disciple N.J.S.A. 45:1-37(d) and N.J.S.A. 45:1-35. Thus, consultation with one of your knowledgeable colleagues or with legal counsel would be prudent.
- John Paul Dizzia, Attorney at Law (908-276-6111)

EDUCATION, PRACTICE MANAGEMENT, CAMARADERIE
In order to better serve our members, the MCDS Mentor Committee is organizing study clubs for those dentists who have been practicing five years or less. Please call our executive secretary, Marlene Glickman, at 732-238-1255 to join.

October 2006 Newsletter

Featured Speaker:

President's Message - Dr. Robert Silverstein

MCDS Board of Trustees Report

Treasurer's Report

Announcements/Articles