Dr. Rockwell has maintained a private general practice in Warren since 2018 after 12 years as Director of the Crescent Park Dental Clinic at Warren General Hospital from 2006-2018. He also practices part-time at Titusville Area Hospital. Prior to becoming PDA president, Dr. Rockwell served two terms on our Board of Trustees, representing the Eighth District. He has also served on PDA’ s Membership Committee, Dental Benefits Committee and Environmental Task Force, and is currently a member of our Mental Health Task Force. As part of our Mental Health Matters initiative Dr. Rockwell wrote a powerful personal story describing his service during Operation Iraqi Freedom,“ The Mental Challenges of Boots on the Ground,” that appeared in the May / June 2024 issue of the Journal.
PDJ: When you reflect on your career and your leadership journey, what does leading the association as PDA president mean to you?
Dr. Rockwell: Leading the PDA as president is a challenge to represent the dentists of Pennsylvania and all of the patients that they serve. My journey in my dental career has been as a GPR resident, an Army and then Air Force National Guard Dentist, an associate, a deployed Operation Iraqi Freedom Dentist, practicing at several hospitals, and currently owning and operating my own full-time practice in Warren. My journey in PDA and ADA leadership has included local positions in the Eighth Trustee Region, the PDA Board of Trustees for two terms, numerous years as an ADA delegate, the Membership Committee for many years, the Mental Health Task Force, the Governance Task Force, and many other committees.
All of this taught me that there are multiple facets of being a leader, including the human factor, which is most important, and the big picture, which a leader must never lose sight of to lead effectively.
PDJ: What are some areas of focus for you during your presidential term? What are your primary goals?
Dr. Rockwell: I have several primary goals during my PDA presidential year.
1 Advocate for an improved and shortened credentialing process. I want to see legislation that limits the time insurance companies have in Pennsylvania to complete credentialing to 45 days ideally.
2 Advocate for Insurance Transparency through supporting legislation for Dental Loss Ratio Reporting so that insurance companies will have to show how much of the patients’ premium dollars are paid out for treatment and how much for administrative costs.
3 Advocate with state legislators to communicate with insurance companies in Pennsylvania that reimbursement rates need to be increased to keep dentists practicing in Pennsylvania and reduce dentists moving out of Pennsylvania, so that access to care is improved and not reduced, and to keep it viable for dental offices to participate.
4 Advocate for restoring full adult dental Medicaid benefits to pre-2011 levels, and to increase fees so that it is reasonable for dentist to be able to participate without losing money and thereby improve access to care.
5 Advocate for legislation to prevent network leasing without first giving the dentist the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of the network leasing.
6 Reach out to all dentists in Pennsylvania to continue to explain the benefits of being a member in PDA and ADA, and increase the numbers of dentists who are members.
7 Reach out to existing members and express how valuable they are to PDA and ADA and how being a member helps themselves, other members, and their chosen profession of dentistry.
8 Reach out to all dental schools in Pennsylvania to educate students about what PDA and ADA can do for them and welcome them; and support legislation that supports dental schools.
JULY / AUGUST 2025 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 29