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Currently, TRICARE, the medical health insurance program for members of the Armed Services and their dependents, will currently pay for medically necessary dental work in a hospital setting if the condition has a medical component. For example, dental work in conjunction with a car crash would be covered; but a child with a serious dental condition, or who is mentally or physically challenged and the dentist feels that the treatment should be done with the patient under general anesthesia in a hospital or ambulatory surgical setting, the family gets stuck with the hospital anesthesia cost. This imposes a serious financial burden resulting in military families postponing necessary dental treatments for their children.

I introduced legislation to correct this inequality (H.R. 5050), which was exactly included in the House version of the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill. The Senate included similar but less comprehensive language in their bill. Either bill will most likely pass and become law.

The other matter is stopping the Dental Health Aide Therapists, who perform dentistry and irreversible dental procedures, from spreading the concept out of Alaska. I am working on this with Congressman Donald Young of Alaska, and the ADA. However, the Senators from Alaska, particularly Senator Stevens, have stopped our language from getting into the bill.

As you know, the Indian Health Service (IHS) has allowed Alaskan tribes to send people to New Zealand to acquire some certificate called a “dental therapist degree.” These therapists are then permitted to perform procedures that require a high degree of skill without their having the proper training or experience. IHS has ignored suggestions from the ADA and other knowledgeable health professionals to solve this problem. They have not insisted that the State of Alaska include dentistry in their Medicaid Program for the tribes. Instead, they are trying to “dumb down” our profession and to regulate these Native American citizens to having third-world dentistry.

My first solution was to remedy the 25% vacancies in the IHS dental positions by enticing recruits to the program through a currently available loan repayment program free of federal taxation. The National Health Service Corps has been doing this with success for years.

The second suggestion was to provide a pilot program and education campaign on the benefits of bottled fluoridated water to tribal areas under the direction of the IHS. It also aimed to educate the population to the health risks of overuse of soft drinks.

My final thought was to streamline the certification process for dentists who want to serve in IHS without the time-consuming re-credentialing that now exists for dental personnel to practice. Currently, the IHS credentialing is site-specific. The Department of Defense (DoD) credentials dentists through a centralized process to place them in situations where they are needed the most, at any given time. Why re-invent the wheel when the DoD procedures are already in place, working, and are successful?

The fight for Title VII funding continues to provide money to programs that are designed to train dentists who will serve the needs of underserved populations, such as rural areas. The increased funding has received much better support than when we started the fight three years ago, but it is nowhere near the levels we have requested.

The little-known Ryan White CARE Act provides $2 billion in federal funds to local and State governments to provide health care services for people affected by HIV or AIDS who cannot afford them. These funds can be used for dental care as well. Another $15 million is specifically provided for dental treatment due to the disease or the medicaments used for treating the condition. While this is not funded to the level we believe necessary, we had to pull it off the table from being totally eliminated this year. This year, we have them convinced to establish core services guidelines, which the States will have to fund 75% of the cost, and oral health care is to be a core service.

Your support of my efforts has been wonderful in the past, and I appreciate all you have done to help me in this joint effort. Call me when you get to Washington, DC, to see if I am available to have a cup of coffee with you and discuss your local dental concerns.

• 1000 Smiles Foundation from Dr. James Vernetti of California
• The Haitian Health Foundation from Dr. Jeremy Lowney of Connecticut
• Dental Project Peru from Dr. Jacqueline Nimmo of the United Kingdom
• The National Board of French Dental Surgeons from Dr. Pierre-Yves Mahe of France
• Hope for Healthier Humanity from Dr. Stanley Kosan of New York
• Rotary Australia Community Services from Dr. Sandra Meihubers of Australia
• The Maryland Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped from Dr. Murray Sykes of Maryland
• Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND) from Dr. Richard Marias of California
• The Metropolitan Denver Dental Foundation from Teri Gilpin of Colorado
• The Massachusetts Dental Society from Chair Norman Becker of Massachusetts
• The Good Shepherd Ministries of Oklahoma from Dr. Francis Lipsinic of Oklahoma
• The West Virginia Health Right from Dr. Julie Hamilton of West Virginia
• The University of California-San Diego from Dr. Ellen Beck of California
• The Kentucky PFA from Chair Karl Lange of Kentucky
• PFA Web site from Academy President Howard Mark

• The PFA Section of Kentucky from Chair Karl Lange
• The Street Angels Society from Dr. Evelyn McNee of Canada
• The AIDS Resource of Wisconsin from Doug Nelson of Wisconsin
• The International Smile Power Foundation from Dr. Sherwin Shinn of Washington State
• The Children’s Dental Health Association of San Diego from RDH Druann Andrecht of California
• The United Way of the Quad Cities Area from LISW Scott Caldwell of Iowa
• The Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre from Sister Susan Fletcher - Canada
• The Flying Samaritans from Dr. Ted Tanabe of California
• The St. Vincent de Paul Village from Dr. Michael Ward of California
• The University of Mississippi School of Dentistry from Dr. Karen Crews of Mississippi
• The Volunteer Ministry Center from Dr. Reuben Pelot of Tennessee
• The Latin World Ministries from Dr. Jerome Smith of Louisiana
• The Free Peoples Clinic from Dr. Edward Schaaf of Illinois
• Smiles Forever from Sandy Kemper of Washington State
• PFA publications from Academy President Howard Mark

Canada

Susan Conrod, a junior dental student at Dalhousie University, was presented Canada’s Student Clinician Award by Canadian International Trustee Barry Dolman and then PFA President Howard Mark. Susan Conrod is the daughter of past CDA President Burton Conrod, who is the President-elect of FDI. She was also the student clinician winner of the Dentsply competition at the CDA St. John’s Newfoundland annual CDA Convention to represent Canada at the finals during the ADA Session.

L-R, PFA Trustee Barry Dolman with recipient Susan Conrod and PFA President Howard Mark

France

Chair Marie-Laure Boy-Lafevre had presented the PFA Foundation Scholarships to student Philippe Boitelle of the Faculte de Chirurgie Dentaire de Lille, and to Matthieu Dohrmann of the Faculte de Chirurgie Dentaire de Strasbourg.

United States

Michigan

The Foundation Scholarship was presented to the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Dentistry’s Tiffany Stafiej who had been participating in the PFA Mentoring Program. Tiffany was also a volunteer at the Bay Cliff Health Camp in 2004, 2005, and 2006. She was raised in Livonia and earned her undergraduate degree at Michigan State University.

Foundation Scholarship recipient Amanda Bucklin at the University of Michigan is from Coldwater, Michigan, and earned her BS degree from Western Michigan University. She has been her Class Secretary and coordinated a school-wide fundraiser to benefit the American Red Cross’ Hurricane Katrina effort in 2005.

David Wei-Hua Ho of UDM also participated in the PFA Mentoring Program and was a volunteer at Bay Cliff Health Camp in 2005. He was the 2006 recipient of the PFA Senior Dental Award. Originally from Toronto, he graduated near the top of his class at UDM, is a member of OKU, and is entering the General Practice Residency program in Toledo.

Brody James Hart received his BA degree from the University of Utah and his DDS degree from the University of Michigan. He is now practicing dentistry in Salt Lake City with his father. He was the recipient of the 2006 PFA Senior Dental Certificate. Dr. Hart participated in the Student Research Program for three years, receiving the NIDCR Student Research Fellowship in 2003 and an AADR Student Research Fellowship in 2004. He earned second place in the Basic Science category during UM School of Dentistry’s 2005 Research Day Poster Competition.

Mississippi

Associate Dean William T. Buchanan of the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry has presented the Foundation Scholarship to honor student Bradley Dale Harrelson, past President of the American Student Dental Association.

Nebraska

The Foundation Scholarship for Creighton University School of Dentistry was presented to Katherine V. Shadegg by Creighton Dean Steven W. Fredrichsen and PFA Section Secretary/Treasurer Gary H. Westerman, Chair of Community and Preventive Dentistry at Creighton.

L-R, PFA Section Secretary Gary Westerman, recipient Katherine Shadegg, and Dean Steven Friedrichsen

Washington State

The Dental Alumni News for the University of Washington Dental Alumni Association reported in their Summer/Fall, 2006 issue, Vol. 32, #2 that the PFA Foundation Scholarship Award had been presented to Michael Bowman, who is the Class of 2007 President, and was also honored in receiving the Dan Middaugh Dental Student Professional Service Award, the Dr. Tony Michael Ponti Memorial Scholarship Award, and the Dental Alumni Association Scholarship.

The PFA Senior Student Award from the Academy was presented to Zachton Lowe, who also received the Quintessence Award for Clinical Achievement in Restorative Dentistry, First Place in the Washington Academy of General Dentistry and William Howard Student Competition Award, OKU Membership recognition, and the Alpha Omega Scholarship Award.

Australian Dental Association Congress/PFA Induction Ceremony, Sydney

Oklahoma PFA Meeting
PFA Management Team Meeting
Oklahoma State Dental Association Pierre Fauchard bust unveiled

Southern California Section Meeting and Luncheon, Anaheim

Canadian Dental Association Meeting/PFA Canada Meeting, Jasper, Alberta

100th Anniversary of the Chile Odontological Society, Santiago, Chile

27-30 Sept. 2007

148th ADA Meeting, San Francisco
PFA Academy & Foundation Annual Board Meetings, San Francisco

24-27 October 2007

95th FDI Congress, Dubai, UAE