Dr. Chauncey Cross, who served as vice president of the American Dental Association from 1997-98, died Sept. 5, 2019, on his 87th birthday.

The ADA is calling for nominations for two seats to represent the Association in the Dental Quality Alliance.

The 2021 Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature — better known as the CDT Code — could include changes or additions to codes regarding oral/oropharyngeal cancer, caries management by risk assessment, laboratory surface scanning for diagnostic purposes, and counseling for the control and prevention of adverse oral, behavioral, and systemic health effects associated with high-risk substance use.

Dentists leaped up to No. 2 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the 100 Best Jobs, the magazine revealed on its website Jan. 7.

As the American College of Dentists celebrates its 100th anniversary, its leaders are ready to continue their mission of advancing excellence, ethics, professionalism and leadership in dentistry.

Dr. Theressa Eliscar-Hewett began volunteering at the Nassau County Give Kids A Smile event in Long Island, New York, as a high school student. More than 10 years later, she continues to volunteer, only now as a dentist.

The U.S.-based International Medical Relief is sponsoring outreach trips to Puerto Rico in response to the earthquakes that have devastated the region.

The Center for Research & Education in Technology is encouraging dental schools to find out how to participate in its program and learn about the benefits to the school and its students.

The ADA will present a free webinar Feb. 6 on dental sealants, especially designed to help dental providers in communities that do not yet have sealant programs in place.

Average educational indebtedness of graduating students from U.S. dental schools has increased an average of 3.5% annually between 2000 and 2018 after adjusting for inflation.

Texas A&M College of Dentistry announced Jan. 17 it opened it’s a new 160,000-square-foot, nine-story clinic, which enables the dental school to increase underserved patients’ access to care.

As the world gets ready for the Special Olympics Sweden Invitational Games in February, one of the ADA’s member dentists will be watching as the Special Smiles program he founded will be used to screen and attend to the dental needs of the competing athletes.

The Central Arizona Dental Society hosted a Mission of Mercy event Dec. 13-14 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, providing treatment to 1,785 patients totaling just over $2 million in free dental service.

In an effort to advance the Association’s diversity and inclusion efforts, the ADA House of Delegates voted at its meeting in September to rescind the policy titled “The Dentist’s Prayer,” used by some state and local dental societies during their meetings, and amend its policy on recognition of religious diversity.

“Our nation’s veterans deserve the best.” Those were the words of ADA President Chad P. Gehani following his Jan. 7 visit to the Orlando VA Healthcare System’s dental clinic.

Service With A Smile was among 10 programs from nine universities to receive funding this year through the ADA Foundation’s E. “Bud” Tarrson Dental School Student Community Leadership Awards.

This year the February observance of National Children’s Dental Health Month honors the 75th anniversary of community water fluoridation with its theme, “Fluoride in water prevents cavities! Get it from the tap!”

Nearly 49% of responding dental practices have experienced employee theft, and nearly 46% of those have experienced theft or embezzlement more than once, according to a survey conducted by the ADA Council on Dental Practice.

The Dental Quality Alliance will help dentists learn more about how quality measure domains can be best used to drive quality improvement at the practice level through a free webinar in March.

The international group SNOMED International honored ADA member dentist Dr. Mark Jurkovich with the Award of Excellence for spearheading the important work the ADA has done on SNODENT, the group announced Jan. 16.

The Duluth Dental Forum in northeastern Minnesota celebrated its 75th anniversary in late 2019, stating that it was the second-oldest study club of its kind in the United States.

A class action lawsuit alleging that a Florida dental practice sent unsolicited text messages in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Jan. 6.

The last decade brought 236,658 attendees to the American Dental Association's annual meeting. The ADA will continue to build on that momentum with the ADA FDC Annual Meeting from Oct. 15-18 in Orlando, Florida.

International dental school graduates in U.S. dental schools

The University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry announced Jan. 30 it received a $10 million gift — the largest contribution ever to the dental school — to establish an endowment that would fun efforts to modernize its curriculum and recruit and retain faculty members.

Thanks to the advocacy efforts of the Missouri Dental Association, a managed care organization has agreed to remove an authorization tool it was requiring dentists to use prior to using sedation.

Dental service leaders met with the ADA Council on Government Affairs Jan. 25 in Washington to discuss legislative and regulatory issues.

The Indian Health Service is presenting a four-part series of messages focused on their younger patients’ oral heath in honor of the February observance of National Children’s Dental Health Month.

The ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure launched in December an interactive map in an effort to assist dentists with keeping track of current initial licensure requirements by state.

Global Dental Relief, a nonprofit organization that has delivered free dental care to children around the globe since 2001, is seeking clinical volunteers for upcoming humanitarian missions in Nepal and Guatemala.

Indianapolis -- Seven-year-old Jordan Randle made a big promise after visiting Give Kids A Smile for the first time during the national kickoff event Feb. 7 in Indianapolis.

The ADA Council on Dental Practice is encouraging dentists to acknowledge the dedication and contributions of their dental assistants during Dental Assistants Recognition Week.

PBHS, Inc. announced in January the launch of Consult Mode, an addition to ADA TV that enables dental providers to demonstrate 3D procedural animations, videos and tutorials chairside via tablets, iPads and other hand-held devices.

Dr. Bettie R. McKaig, who served as the Association’s first vice president from 1998-99, died Feb. 3. She was 70.

Of the more than 3 million profile views, the program found that 17% resulted in action, which include potential patients visiting a dentist’s website, calling or emailing the practice and sharing their profile. Industry average for similar sites is only 1-4%, so patients are nearly six times more likely to contact an ADA dentist through Find-a-Dentist.

Circulating levels of perfluorodecanoic acid, a type of perfluoroalkyl acid, may be associated with dental caries in children, according to a study published in the fall 2019 issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry.

Dr. Per Äke Zillen, executive director of the FDI World Dental Federation from 1989-2001, died Jan. 19 following a battle with cancer.

Dr. Emily Mattingly, chair, New Dentist Committee, 6th District, shares her experience as a new dentist in a rural Missouri town. Three other NDC members also shared new dentist perspectives.

The ADA is hosting a free webinar in March on how to effectively advertise and market services and dental practices on Facebook and Instagram.

The ADA Foundation will award up to three scholarships worth at least $11,000 each to dental students in 2020.

Advanced dental education program enrollment by gender

Dr. Robert M. Anderton, ADA president from 2000-01 and ADA trustee from 1995-99, died Feb. 14.

The deadline for abstracts for the upcoming National Summit on Smokeless Tobacco Prevention is Feb. 29.

A new California law is requiring dental benefit companies to be more transparent about the leasing of dental networks, making California the 20th state to pass or amend such legislation.

Results from a NYU College of Dentistry study suggest how excess fluoride exposure affects the cells forming tooth enamel — possibly explaining how dental fluorosis arises.

The handout covers strategies for helping prevent the transmission of suspected respiratory disease in the dental health care setting and answers frequently asked questions related to the virus, based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. David P. Cappelli, Ph.D., acknowledges that as providers, we don’t often understand difficulties that some patients face to receive needed dental care.

The deadline for submission of abstracts for the FDI World Dental Congress is March 25.

When Dr. Gil Rivera became a dentist, he had no idea his career would take him to the bloodied and bruised front lines of the NHL, but nearly 18 years later, he continues to treat the ravaged mouths of professional hockey players as the team dentist of the Tampa Bay Lightning.