IMPRESSIONS
For A Friend
By Dr . Bruce R . Terry Editor
I went to a funeral today . Some would say it was the perfect day for a funeral . Dark and gray with a light drizzle . I knew this person for more than 20 years . She had been ill for some time and everyone knew that this day would come . In her case , she kept up appearances for quite some time . She knew when the end was approaching and she put everything in order . She made sure to talk to her loved ones and get all the necessary closure , at least as much as one can expect . I honestly was not aware how rapidly things were advancing , so the news was a surprise to me . Her death was not a surprise , but her absence still hurts . Probably because I didn ’ t want to believe that it could happen to such a wonderful person .
You might wonder why I am writing about death and a funeral . Well , in some ways I wonder if organized dentistry isn ’ t facing dark and cloudy days . Maybe we are already beyond the clouds and entering hospice care . Maybe we are spiraling down and getting dangerously close to the End .
Leaders across the tripartite structure are fighting hard to keep organized dentistry alive . Like chemotherapy , we try this and that and sometimes combine this and that . Each time we think we see positive results , but then when new information comes like a lab test or scan , we are disappointed to see that things continue to get worse .
State by state we continue to see the same problems : more dentists retiring that were members and fewer new dentists are
joining . The reasons have been diagnosed ; cost to join is high after initial few years , dentists don ’ t perceive value for the cost of membership , younger dentists are not joiners unless it ’ s on electronic media , just to name a few .
The ADA as well as each state association including the Pennsylvania Dental Association have tried everything to keep our organization alive . We have created dues reduction programs for the first five years of membership . We have implemented communication with email and social media . We have events for young dentists . Sadly , membership slowly creeps downward . As this happens we see less revenue both at the ADA level and the PDA level . Both governing bodies then adjust , much like a patient that has difficulty breathing compensates with a faster heart rate . We then raise dues to help compensate and stay alive .
Through this analogy it ’ s possible to see that our lifesaving efforts are barely working and our organization is sick . But with the right medication we can cure this disease and bring us back to health . So , what is this magic medicine ?
Unfortunately , we don ’ t know yet , but I might have some suggestions .
In a quote from the late Steve Jobs , “ How does somebody know what they want if they haven ’ t even seen it ?” I don ’ t think that many of the younger nonmember dentists truly see what organized dentistry is . They see a local event with a bunch of older dentists talking about the “ good ol ’ days .” They see and hear about the same people serving on the same committees year after year . Even if events like advocacy and insurance benefits are written into the journals I think that the non-member dentists don ’ t see or hear how this benefits them . They require a conduit . They need a connection to organized dentistry , perhaps a member
dentist friend that can tell them how foolish they are for not joining .
Jobs did not ask , “ How do we build a better store than our competitors ?” Instead he asked , “ How do we reinvent the store ?” Don ’ t do things better ; do things differently . I believe that we are going about our declining membership all wrong and I am sorry if that offends anyone . We continue to try to do things better which is great , but it is failing to get us where we need to be . We need to do things differently , as Jobs said . One way that we are trying is by reinventing our process of governance . Some are afraid that things won ' t be the same . To them I say , “ We need to do things differently !”
We also need the creativity to try new things to encourage membership . Again , to paraphrase Jobs , many non-member dentists think they understand what they are giving up by not joining . Non-member dentists understand that the rest of us will pay our dues . They don ' t realize what our profession would be like without political action efforts . They don ’ t know that PDA has worked to hold back legislation requiring the statewide use of amalgam separators and other expensive bloodborne pathogen standards that would have increased our practice overhead . These non-members also don ’ t know that we have met with legislators and we helped usher in the Non Covered Services Bill . In brief , SB 1144 , signed by Gov . Corbett on November 20 , 2012 , prohibits an insurer ’ s contract with a dentist from requiring that the dentist provide services to covered patients at a fee set by the insurer , unless those services are “ covered dentist services .” This bill would not have existed without PDA . They don ’ t see how ADA and PDA contact the public when we need to better educate patients about issues that affect them . Much of the charitable dentistry is done by groups of
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