Dr. Chris Salierno is a general dentist from Long Island, New York. He graduated from Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine in 2005. Dr. Salierno has served as the National President of the American Student Dental Association, Chair of the ADA New Dentist Committee, and as President of his local dental society. He lectures internationally on clinical dentistry, practice management, and leadership development. His material can be viewed on his blog, The Curious Dentist. In 2014, Dr. Salierno became the Chief Editor of Dental Economics.

 

 

 

Overhead: That evil monster that will quietly eat up your gross collections until nothing is left for you to take home. It’s so dangerous because it’s often invisible. You get peeks of the overhead monster when you see a stack of bills on your desk or somehow lose money doing a case. In this course we’ll expose your overhead wherever it’s hiding, develop systems to keep it in check, and suggest a method for evaluating fees. Topics covered include: Calculating practice overhead and comparing it to national averages; Troubleshooting ways to adjust practice systems to improve overhead percentages; Analyzing procedure costs as a method of determining fees and evaluating third party benefit panels.

My dear friends, as we welcome autumn with its multitude of colors, we must be cognizant of our profession’s changing landscape. In light of this, Middlesex County Dental Society is continually looking for ways to best serve its members. Current trends in dentistry, including shrinking dental insurance benefits, pressures on solo dental practitioners to reduce costs combined with the increasing costs of dental education, make it important for our dental society to understand members’ needs and develop strategies to help them succeed and best serve patients. Your success is critical for our association. We must be one unified voice that can communicate our needs to NJDA and ADA.
At Middlesex County Dental Society, I have been working on new strategic plans to not only continue to meet the needs of our current members but to attract new ones. Our society has members from different settings like solo private practice, group practice and corporate settings. It is crucial to hear the voices of all in order to meet the needs of not only our young dental colleagues starting their careers but also to honor our loyal long-term members who have contributed so much to dentistry and our association.
Our board of trustees at Middlesex County Dental Society is now recruiting new members for our volunteer positions. Your input is extremely valuable to me, your President as I gather data to best serve our dental society. We must embrace the challenging work of trying to understand the world from a perspective other than our own in order to steer our dental association in the upward direction.
I have found that being your President gives me the opportunity to work with some of the most well-rounded and influential dental professionals in Middlesex County Dental Society. At our board and general meetings I have been exposed to individuals that have big hearts for volunteerism but at times just need the right tools to master their leadership skills. I am committed to your growth within our dental society. So while I absorb everything and let my light escape, I would like you to hold the torch with me as we continue to lead future generations, and inspire others to enact change for the betterment of the dental profession. Middlesex County Dental Society has been, and under our leadership will continue to be, at the forefront of advocacy on behalf of our members and the oral health of our New Jersey community.

Attendance: Drs. Genevieve Fernandes, Sunny Satwah, Antoinette Tauk, Mario Fiorentini, Amit Vora, Robert Silverstein, Richard Kahn, Daniel Krantz, Nima Mir-Madjlessi, Devang Modi, Nicholas Diaz, Maya Prabhu, Mark Schambra, Nainesh Desai, Mitchell Weiner, Peter DeSciscio, Mark Vitale, Steven Hobson, Minni Sharma
Acceptance of 4/10/2018 Minutes—vote unanimous
President’s Report—Dr. Genevieve Fernandes
We had a great turnout at our September general meeting at the Pines Manor. It was a special meeting of the year as we were all back from a long summer of no meetings at our dental society. Watching the social interactions between one dentist to another dentist, dentist to a sponsor, and sponsor to sponsor among others, I realized what we have is so special at Middlesex County Dental Society. We have started this year of my Presidency well and I’m thankful to God, my fellow dentists, sponsors, staff and all for a wonderful year ahead at Middlesex County Dental Society.
Treasurer’s Report – Dr. Mario Fiorentini
See full report on page 3
Education Coordinator—Dr. Sunny Satwah
On 10/16/18, Dr. Marcus Johnson will be presenting his lecture titled “Pain Management and Restorative-Driven Endodontics.” Honorarium is $750.00.
NJDA Trustee’s Report—Dr. Amit Vora
The following report is from the NJDA Board of Trustee’s meeting in August.
Executive Director
Mr. Arthur Meisel reported on the status of two cases pending in the Appellate Division regarding overpayment recovery. He also presented an overview of the tripartite system and its governance.
Annual Session - Dr. Renee Arace
Dr. Renee Arace reported that since June 15th, the Council on Annual Session did a survey to get feedback for the 2019 Annual Session. We will go back to ala carte pricing, return to lunch and learns and the meeting will be Thursday & Friday, 5/2 and 5/3/2019. The legislative event will continue to be hosted. The House of Delegates meeting will be held Friday, May 3, 2019, from 3:00 - 5:00 pm.
COGPA - Dr. Elisa Velazquez
Dr. Elisa Velazquez reported that all our groundwork has paid off. We will be getting a Dental Director in New Jersey. The position will be publicly listed. She, Dr. Vitale and Jim Schulz met with the then candidate for governor back in October 2016 to discuss and explain our dental needs. As a result of all their hard work, Governor Murphy will select a Dental Director for New Jersey. He is looking for diversity in all positions. We are keeping vigilant regarding whose names will be considered and our goal will be to develop a strong relationship with the Director.
NEW DENTISTS
The New Dentists Committee of New York has invited the New Dentists Committee of New Jersey to advertise to its new dentists an event at the N.Y. Annual Session which will be sponsored by Bank of America and Patterson Dental. The date is November 25, 2018.
State Board Report
In the absence of Dr. Mitch Weiner, Dr. Rothstein reported on the August 8, 2018 State Board meeting. Dr. Roger Kriete was elected President and Elizabeth Clemente was elected Vice President. The next State Board meeting will be September 5, 2018.
OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Meisel reported that he had a conference call with Drs. Michaud and Schonberg a week ago Monday to discuss the printing of the Journal, which has been suspended. Details were communicated about alternative approaches. As an aside, Mr. Meisel reported that he had received no inquiries from members regarding the publication of the Journal. The Board decided to pursue alternative approaches.
NEW BUSINESS
Royal Bank of Canada - Mr. Philip Grellar
The Royal Bank of Canada was asked to make a presentation to the Board in how to better invest our reserves. The Finance and Investments Committee surveyed two investment companies. It felt the Royal Bank of Canada made a more suitable proposal.
Mr. Philip Grellar from HVC Wealth Management reported that there were two methods of investment; money in short term and money for growth income. He explained the difference and how and when to invest, keeping everything as transparent as possible.
The selection of a Trustee for the AMT sub-trust is Tabled to the September 12, 2018.
Dr. Mark Vitale and Jim Schulz have been asked to serve on the Board of Dental Lifeline.
$15,000 is needed for next year to maintain status quo. Its situation is dire and help is needed to raise this money. Dr. Vitale asked if an announcement could be placed on the Monday morning alert to ask for volunteers and/or to make a donation.
The Trustee for AMT will be Tabled until the September Board meeting.
Dr. Velazquez would like to see the master calendar brought to the CE Committee.
GOOD AND WELFARE
Dr. Dan Krantz said that he, Drs. Roshong and Krulewicz have been helping to clear out the equipment, etc. of Dr. Walter Chinoy’s office. There are many hand instruments and other equipment (some not used) that he would like to sell and give the proceeds to the family. If anyone is interested, please email Dr. Krantz and he will email to you the list of items and prices. He would also like this put on our website.
Dr. Peter DeSciscio will represent the Association at the White Coat ceremony tonight.
Dr. Mark Vitale reported on the Frank Graham campaign. He reported that we were hoping for
$21,000 and $25,000.00 has been received. You can contact him regarding personal contributions to the Fourth District Fund that will be used for ADA leaders from the Fourth District. An email will go out regarding this.
Dr. Tom Rossi announced that Alan Rothstein and Diane Smith were married on Sunday, August 5th. On behalf of the Board, congratulations and best wishes.
NJDA Council Reports:
Dental Benefits—Dr. Devang Modi, Dr. Antoinette Tauk
Our next council meeting is 11/7/18. Thank you to everyone that forwarded questions for Dr. Keith Libou. I will be meeting with Joan Monaco on 10/15/18 to forward your concerns.
Membership—Dr. Genevieve Fernandes, Dr. Nima Mir-Madjlessi
We have 3279 active paid members, 4336 total members & a 48.6% market share. We have an increase of 2% from this time last year. We have had a pretty good summer and 2018. We are 453 members strong and we have about 47 members who have yet to correct their oversight and complete our membership. The ADA’s Quarter Year Dues campaign, Choose Us, has officially begun. Any dentist who was a non-member in 2017 and has not received the free offer in the past is eligible for complimentary dues for the remainder of 2018. To date we have received 101 new members from this campaign. The goal is to retain these new members. date we have a total of 305 non-renews. The ADA is conducting a survey to all non-renews and we will have the results in mid-October. To date we have a total of 305 non-renews. The ADA is conducting a survey to all non-renews and we will have the results in mid-October. The council is still trying to find the Magic solution to reach out to all of the Dentists in NJ. How to retain members of new and old. How to reach to non-members. Many on the board are really frustrated and they want to look into hiring an outside marketing firm to be able to reach all of the dentists in NJ. The next Council on Membership Conference call is scheduled for November 19th.
New Dentists—Dr. Nicholas Diaz
The ADA 10 under 10 award: The ADA recognizes 10 amazing dentists who are in practice 10 years or less. Nominations will be accepted October 1st-December 31st. Winners will be recognized in ADA News NDC blog, and receive $1000 gift card
New Dentist Social events: The events held over the past year have been a success. The next event is scheduled for Thursday, October 25th at the Clover Leaf Tavern in West Caldwell. A Central NJ and South Jersey event will be planned in the near future.
Greater NY event: A non-member New Dentist event is scheduled along with the New York Dental Association on Sunday, November 25th at the Hudson Terrace in NYC. If a member new dentist registers, it is strongly encouraged for a non-member to register as their guest. NJDA will be promoting this in the next several weeks.
Peer Review—Dr. Steven Susskind
There was one case that was resolved through mediation. It was a restorative four-unit fixed bridge case. It was a material failure due to poor construction/improper Treatment Planning after only 4 months in service. This resulted in a breakdown of communication between the doctor and the patient. The doctor offered to redo the bridge yet wanted the patient to pay again in full. Of course, the patient refused thus leading the case to be sent to Peer Review. The doctor had to refund the money in full and since the patient lost confidence in the doctor, she sought treatment elsewhere. There was one case that was UNABLE to be successfully resolved through Middlesex County Mediation. It was being mediated through PR for several months and a resolution was close, but the original treating doctor sensed that it was not going to be decided in his favor. He researched and found a small loophole in the system. He cried foul and thus to save the integrity of the PR system, it was transferred out of Middlesex County and handed to another jurisdiction. There is one case currently being mediated. That is a Full Lower Overdenture case. The annual Peer Review Training Workshop is taking place on October 31, 2018. For a mediator to remain active, they must take the training at least once every 3 years. I am proud to announce that all the active mediators for Middlesex County have been attending the workshop annually.
NJPAC—Dr. Mark Vitale
Dental Lifeline Network, out of Colorado, operates on grant money which is slowly decreasing and for that reason all of the State chapters are being asked to raise more money to keep their state operating. I just joined the Board and have been asking a lot of questions regarding the management of the NJ program. Long story short, in order to keep the screening process operational at 20 hours per week, we need to raise $15000 before the end of October, otherwise the administrators’ hours will be reduced to12 hours per week. Those of you who currently participate know that the back log of patients currently is unacceptable, so over the next 6 months will be looking at stream lining the process and raising needed capital. In the meantime, we need to stop the bleed, which is why the ask for the short term. Feel free to call me with any questions.
Committee Reports:
Budget and Finance—Dr. Ira Rosen
The budget committee has completed a proposed MCDS budget for calendar year 2019. After any modifications and ultimate approval by the MCDS Executive Board, it will be presented to the membership at the October General Membership meeting. A copy of the budget will be published in the November newsletter and then it is to be voted upon at our November General Membership meeting.
Corporate Sponsorship—Dr. Ira Rosen
We will have three corporate sponsors with us at the October General Membership meeting. Our two gold sponsors will be in attendance– ZimmerBiomet and Provident Bank. In addition, our silver sponsor will also be joining us– DentsplySirona. Please join me in welcoming our sponsors and be sure to visit them and view their products. Visit all three sponsors, get your cards stamped and enter the raffle to win one of four $25 VISA gift cards!MCDS Study Club—Dr. Nima Mir-Madjlessi, Dr. Genevieve Fernandes
The next MCDS Study Club lecture will be on 10/24/18 at the NJDA Building from 6-8:30PM. Registration starts at 6 and the program starts at 6:30. Dr. Cavan Brunsden will be presenting the lecture, entitled “The Practice Success System.” MCDS Study Club lectures are provided to our membership at NO CHARGE as a member benefit. Dr. Brunsden has recommended that the members bring their staff members to this session.
New Business
A motion was made by Dr. Ira Rosen to approve up to $2,000 for the purchase of the following equipment- new laptop for the Treasurer of the MCDS, a Lavalier microphone, an LCD projector and a laser pointer. The motion was seconded by Dr. Nainesh Desai and was voted unanimously in favor by the board.
A motion was made by Dr. Ira Rosen to audit our annual expenses each year on July 31st. If the treasury falls below $80K, dues may need to be increased. The motion was seconded by Dr. Nainesh Desai and was approved by the board.
The corporate budget was fully accepted and approved by the board.
A motion was made by Dr. Nainesh Desai to approve a $1000 donation to Dental Lifeline Network as proposed by Dr. Mark Vitale. The motion was seconded by Dr. Ira Rosen and was unanimously approved by the board.
Devang Modi won first place in the Visha charity dance event that was a benefit for underprivileged children.
Respectfully Submitted,
Antoinette Tauk,
Acting Secretary

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