Dr. Ron Kaminer is a 1990 graduate from SUNY at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. He maintains two practices, in Hewlett and Oceanside, NY. He is an international expert in the field of dental lasers and has lectured on lasers and minimally invasive dentistry both nationally and internationally. He is the Director of the Masters of Laser training program in New York and is a clinical instructor with the International College of Laser Education. He evaluates new dental materials, sits on the advisory boards and is a clinical consultant for numerous dental manufacturers. He has authored numerous articles on dental lasers and minimally invasive dentistry and is an associate editor for Dental Product Shopper. He is a member of the Academy of Laser Dentistry, AGD, International College of Facial Esthetic, and ADA.
All dental specialties are changing to become more minimally invasive. These techniques can immediately impact anyone’s practice leading to improved quality of care and higher profits. We will demystify esthetic dentistry, utilizing both new and tried and true materials. We will deliver concepts that can all be implemented immediately. Some of the topics to be covered include: Cariology, Chemotherapeutics, Predictable early caries diagnosis, The best restorative materials for minimally invasive preparations, Dentistry’s Silver Bullet, Ideal matrix band for perfect contacts, How to predictably eliminate white spots, Dental Lasers, Current concepts in tooth whitening, Deciphering cementation confusion

Things are still a little chilly here in Central New Jersey on the first day of spring and the weather forecast is calling for some snow showers tomorrow. Hopefully winter will get the message soon and we will start to enjoy some warmer weather. Easter and Passover will be upon us soon and somewhat early this year. For our members celebrating these holidays I wish you all of the best and I hope all members will get some time off to rest and be with their families.
Our educational program for 2012-13 is winding down. On April 16th we will hold our final monthly meeting before break for the summer. Dr. Ron Kaminer will speak to us about “Lasers and Minimally Invasive Dentistry.” This is a topic that we have not had recently in our society and I am looking forward to hearing the information that Dr. Kaminer has for us.
On Wednesday April 17th, MCDS will sponsor its all day continuing education program featuring Dr. Mark Setter of Port Huron, Michigan. Dr. Setter’s program is “Happier Patients and a Healthier Practice.” Dr. Setter’s focus is to breakdown assumptions that patients and dental offices have. He will speak on consistent systems, diagnostic criteria and verbal skills that dentists and staff can employ in the office. This is an excellent program for dentists and staff and a great member benefit.
By now everyone has received the materials for the Garden State Dental Meeting and Expo which will take place at the Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch. The meeting will run from Friday, June 28th to Sunday, June 30th. This year’s featured speaker will Dr. Gerard Chiche. Dr. Chiche will speak on Friday June 28th on “Smile Design, Esthetic and Occlusal Techniques”. A special feature of the meeting is the “Showcase Courses” which are presented by members of the NJDA. Three of our own MCDS members, Cavan Brunsden, Maya Prabhu and Nainesh Desai, will present courses in Long Branch. With such talent at the podium, I know this will be an outstanding meeting.
Please mark your calendars with all of these great events. I hope to see you at the Pines on April 16th and 17th!

Attendance: Drs. Simos, Ashmen, Rosen, Weiner, Satwah, Silverstein, Modi, Kaga, Mir-Madjlessi, Savage, Bernstein, Glickman, Kahn, Krantz, Stein, Vora, Vitale, Leizer, Desai and Marlene Glickman.
Acceptance of 2/12/13 Minutes- Vote unanimous
Treasurer’s Report-Alyssa Bernstein
Please see page 3.
Secretary’s Report-Devang Modi
2013-2014 names of representatives to the House of Delegates, alternates and various Council for MCDS have been submitted to NJDA.
Educational Coordinator’s Report-Amit Vora
Mr. Stephen Schechner will be speaking on “Malpractice” at next weeks meeting.
ADA Delegate’s Report-Daniel Krantz
Former President Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker at the next ADA Annual meeting.
Executive Secretary Report-Marlene Glickman
Early registration deadline for the Setter course is approaching. 84 people have registered thus far of which 38 are staff members.
NJDA Council Reports:
Annual Session-Nainesh Desai
2013 Conference & Expo
Continuing Education: Three speaker package options are being offered:
• A la carte – choose any available course as in the past (excluding speaker showcase)
• NJ Speaker Showcase
• Chiche plus Showcase, includes a reception hosted by 5 NJDA partner companies
Receptions & Events
• Middlesex and ACOD are NOs for receptions
• Hudson is a YES for a Saturday evening event plus will be purchasing 20 president’s dinner tickets
• NJDS Alumni Association + installation of officers is a YES
• Thursday night Partners’ reception to be held in the NJ Dental office
• Friday evening – no bonfire
• Friday afternoon – Parkway party from 5:00 to 6:00 in lieu of traditional welcome reception
Exhibit Hall
• As of 1/29/13 11 tabletops and 26 booths were available. [ As of 2/12/13 8 tabletops and 24 booths were available.]
• It was suggested circulating the list of exhibitors for council members to review and to pursue companies that haven’t purchased yet.
Hotel Updates
• Hotel is on its 3rd owner.
• Renovated rooms will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Menus are being revamped and haven’t been released to date.
Miscellaneous
• Same shirts will be used as last year. Yellow Friday, Blue Saturday.
• AGD will be in San Francisco in 2015
• Next meeting of the Council will be held at Revel (2014 site) see details below.
Sponsorships
• During visits by Maureen and Tricia DeCotiis, components will be asked to contribute $500 again this year. A “roadmap” to the show will be used to help sell the components on participating. A schedule of visits is being put together.
2014 Conference & Expo at Revel
• CE Sponsor for David Garber is Dentsply
• Sponsor for Ernesto Lee is Biomet3i
• Other course ideas
• CPR, OSHA, Nitrous Oxide & Infection Control, suggested as a possible package
• Cost of 2013 CPR was raised. Maureen was asked to renegotiate a lower fee with Cherie Garrison, CPR instructor.
• There will be no pre-registration fee in 2014
Dental Benefits-Jeff Chustckie, Devang Modi
The Council on Dental Benefit Programs met on February 20, 2013.
Special Order of Business: Mr. Bill Nixon and Jan Abbott of Henry Schein Practice Solutions (Dentrix) briefed the council on Henry Schein’s acquisition of Axium, the dental software being used in dental schools (including UMDNJ). Mr. Nixon reported that this system allows for the more detailed requirements of the educational clinical environment, and may be attractive to corporate dental practices for tracking the performance of employee dentists at its various facilities. He also reported on the lack of certified dental EHR systems for dentists who qualify for government incentive funding (at least 30% Medicaid). Dentrix will be introducing a system later in the year that will eliminate the need for the “double entry” necessary in offices that have purchased the current “certified” system. Standards for dental EHR software are still in process, lack of connectivity is problematic, and there is disagreement in the dental community over dental diagnostic coding (SNODENT vs. EZCodes) and its use. Representatives joined the council for lunch after their presentation to informally continue the discussion.
CRP Statistics: Staff provided the council with cumulative statistics from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012 indicating a total of 108 (24 from Middlesex) complaints were submitted to NJDA for the year. Of that number, NJDA successfully resolved 36. Majority of the complaints were against MetLife (23) and Aetna (19) for coordination of benefits, denial of claim and refund requests.
Proposed ADA Code Change for NJDA Approval: Dr. Scott Dubowsky requested the council’s approval of an ADA code change request to accommodate new radiographic technology that allows a practitioner to take a panoramic view, which includes bitewings, that is the equivalent to a full mouth series. After some discussion, the council will submit a recommendation to amend the D0210 code to delete the word “intraoral” as well as reference to the number of periapical or bitewing images.
New ADA Claim Form: The council reviewed the new 2012 version of the ADA claim form. As expected, the new field for “diagnostic code” has generated some concern. That field is optional, but should be used when the diagnosis may have an impact on the adjudication of the claim (e.g., some patient’s plans allow more frequent benefits if certain medical conditions exist, such as diabetes).
UCCI Radiograph Policy: The council reviewed information related to the radiograph policy instituted by United Concordia(UCCI). Originally, UCCI announced that it would deny all periapical radiographs taken at periodic evaluations, based on the ADA/FDA report on the prescribing of radiographs. After being contacted by numerous groups (including NJDA), ADA began discussions with UCCI executives. As a result, UCCI will now reimburse for periapicals if adequate justification is submitted with the claim.
Horizon BCBS Administration: The council discussed the transition of the Horizon BCBS dental plan administration to DeCare in Minnesota, effective 2-1-13. (Subsequent to the meeting, several dentists contacted NJDA concerning various problems, including being paid as out of network. Dr. Brian Bastecki (formerly Dental Director for the Horizon Medicaid HMO) has been named the new Dental Director of Horizon in New Jersey. He has been very helpful in assisting to rectify the problems, and has offered to meet with the council in the future.
“Leased” Dental Networks: Dr. Vitale briefed the council on his personal experience involving a plan he had joined many years ago that began “leasing” its network to other plans. While this is not a new phenomenon, it is growing in popularity. As an example, Dental Health Alliance acts as a network for several plans, including Assurant, and it has just announced a partnership with Aetna. Language must be included in the PPO contract to allow this assignment, and it is found in most contracts that have been reviewed over the years.
Report of Oral Health Coalition/PEW Collaboration: Dr. Whitman, Chair of the Oral Health Coalition, reported that the Coalition has met with representatives of the PEW Foundation for the sole purpose of collaborating on furthering the fluoridation of drinking water in New Jersey.
CDBP Insurance Course will be held on March 13, 2013
Legislative Report: Mr. Jim Schulz reported on legislative issues, including assignment of benefits and non-covered services.
Governmental Affairs-Mitch Weiner
NJDA Council on Governmental and Public Affairs 2/20/13 Meeting
Assignment of Benefits Bill (A.3062/S.2524)- Assembly Sponsors Schaer/Kean, Senate Sponsor Nia Gill. The Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) is against this legislation and the governors’ office allowed DOBI to submit a statement to the legislature stating their opposition. Self Funded Plans would be exempt. If passed, major players like Delta and Horizon would have to send non-par checks to the providers. This would achieve parity with medical insurance, where this legislation is already on the books.
Non-Covered Services Legislation- some variation of this legislation, which would prevent insurance companies from setting fee limits for services that are not covered under the terms of their plan, exists in dozens of states throughout the nation. NJ will present a similar bill with updates on its introduction forthcoming.
Membership-Tara Savage, Genevieve Fernandes
The Council on Membership met last on February 4, 2013.
Tricia DeCotiis reported that NJDA membership for 2012 was down 58 members from the previous year. Middlesex was up 4 members from the previous year. There were 193 members who did not renew their membership. The ADA will be offering a one time dues reduction of 50 percent in 2013 to non-member dentists that are out of dental school 5-10 years. NJDA will be matching this offer and would like the component dental societies to also match it. We at Middlesex County Dental Society intend to do the same. This offer applies only to eligible new applicants. Current members are not eligible
Peer Review-Sandy Goldstein
We had one case successfully mediated last month. There were no new cases assigned.
Committee Reports:
Corporate Sponsorship-Ira Rosen
All members attending the meeting are strongly encouraged to visit our sponsors at every meeting. Two $50 gift cards will be raffled. A ticket listing all of the vendors can be picked up from Marlene at the registration desk and must be hole punched or stamped by the vendor to be considered eligible for the raffle.
New Dentist Committee-Sanjeev Satwah, Genevieve Fernandes
May 1st we are holding our Hands on Implant/Golf Clinic outing at the Old York Country Club. $125 member/ $175 non members.
Hygiene Study Club-Alyssa Bernstein
The Central New Jersey Dental Hygiene [CNJDH] Study Club met on Wednesday March 6, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Edison. The lecture was presented by Dr. Blumenstock on sleep apnea and methods of diagnosis and treatment. Two CEU credits were awarded to the 27 Hygienists that attend this meeting.
The next CNJDH meeting will be on Wednesday May 1, 2013 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Edison. The speaker will be Gail Malone, RHD and the lecture will be on the proper use of the cavitron. 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 see the registration form in the newsletter to register for next year.
Please contact Marlene Glickman, our Executive Secretary for MCDS, at 732-238-1255 for additional information and registration in advance for the program.
Good and Welfare
All dentists should check with their malpractice insurance company to make sure they have “Licensing Board Actions” coverage in the event of a claim or complaint by a patient to the State Board (and ask what the annual maximum is also).These types of claims are occurring more frequently as patients are increasingly using this avenue for trying to resolve disputes.
Respectfully submitted, Devang Modi, Secretary

 

General Meeting Business

The 2013-14 Slate of Officers was presented and nominations from the floor were solicted. There were none and nominations were closed. The following slate will be voted upon at the April General Meeting: President-elect: Dr. Nainesh Desai, Vice-President: Dr. Alyssa Bernstein, Secretary: Dr. Devang Modi, Treasurer: Dr. Amit Vora, Educational Coordinator: Dr. Genevieve Fernandez

Dentist for nursing home practice. 1-3 Days.
Very flexible schedule.
Must have own instruments and sterilization capability.
We supply disposables.
973-575-6570