President's Message

David A. Tecosky, D.M.D.

If there is one thing in life which is a constant, it is the fact that everything changes. In looking back almost thirty years since I left dental school, it is incredible to realize the amount of change which has occurred in our profession. If you were to tell me then that we would be placing tooth-colored restorations in so many of our fillings today, I would have laughed. If you would have told me at that time that dental implants today would be the primary replacement for missing teeth, it would have been incredulous. Thirty years ago, we did not routinely wear gloves to restore and to clean teeth! Today, our bare hands would not go past the vermillion border. Established and respected dentists told me thirty years ago that the patient’s enamel is sacrosanct, and we would not touch it to create a cosmetic improvement. Today, cosmetic dentistry is changing the way we look at the smile, and we are doing things which can transform our patients’ appearance and outlook on life, with minimal effect on the natural dentition. And there are many more innovations in the works as we proceed into the 21st century – including genetic testing and medical innovations – which will transform our profession anew. The lines are blurring between professions as well, with some dentists providing cosmetic and diagnostic services formerly only available in the medical realm. Some medical doctors are now providing dental preventive services without any significant dental training.

In 1979, when I graduated from dental school, there was very little interference with the profession by federal, state and local regulatory bodies. Due to the development of the HIV virus, we saw a sea-change of activity. The media discovered our profession and with that came an increasing outside regulation of dentistry. Many of the changes in sterilization procedures and patient privacy regulations have been well received by the profession and probably should have been in place sooner. Environmental regulations today are vastly different from thirty years ago.

The important question is how do we as a profession deal with the media and government interference in our daily lives? Do we engage them and provide direction for them to make proper choices in their stories and their legislation, or do we let them dictate the future and continue to degrade the public’s perception of our profession? What are we going to do to monitor the ethics of our own profession? Are we going to partner with the medical profession to improve the oral health of all Americans or allow government, insurance companies, and litigious attorneys dictate what we are to do?

We can participate in the process of change, staying actively involved with our teaching institutions and dental societies, or we can live in the past ignoring the future, sitting on our hands waiting for the world to evolve and affect us. Will you join us and help us retain the stature as one of the most respected professions?

Right now, we have an ongoing concern about amalgam regulations. Philadelphia City Council has already enacted a regulation which will require dentists in Philadelphia to hand out a Philadelphia Health Department brochure on restorative options. The brochure is soon to be approved by City Council (perhaps before this issue of The Journal reaches you). This will be required of all dentists who provide restorative care in the city. The ADA, PDA and Philadelphia County Dental Society have been instrumental in limiting the onerous nature of the original bill. A second measure, which will require dentists who remove and/or place amalgam in teeth to install amalgam separators in their offices, is currently on the table and will probably be acted upon this fall, perhaps before you read this message. Our dental associations are collectively working to make sure this bill is fair for all concerned.

I would like to call on all of you to participate in our profession’s future by heeding our calls for action to attend City Council sessions when we need you, even when it is last minute. Help us with our mentoring campaigns with college and high school students. Share your experiences with us about your contacts in the media so we can present a strong professional image. Come to the 2008 Liberty Dental Conference on November 7. If you are not a member now, join us. If you know another dentist who is not a member, ask him or her to join as well. Act and participate now so that others will not make our future for us, a future which may not be in the best interests of our patients or us.