2025 MOM-n-PA Dental Mission in Wilkes-Barre with Dr. Seth Walbridge and volunteers.
There are many other benefits, too, such as a very significant discount on credit card transactions through Best Card and discounts on supplies that is for members.
One of the best advantages of membership is networking with colleagues and developing many lifelong friends through being active in PDA and ADA. You learn many things from your PDA friends, not to mention just enjoying socializing and having a good time.
PDJ: Following up on that, volunteer engagement has been an ongoing challenge for quite some time. What is your message to members about getting more involved in their local area and statewide with PDA? And what can you tell someone who simply doesn’ t have the time to take on larger volunteer tasks?
Dr. Rockwell: My message to members is that it is fun and rewarding to get involved, and you will feel like you are helping to save the independence and integrity of your chosen profession of dentistry. You should get involved as you will find it helps you, your friends in dentistry, and your patients. There is so much to learn about what your association is doing for you and all dentists. If you make the time to get involved you will be glad you did, and you will feel it is well worth the effort and you will get more out of it than you may have ever imagined.
There are many ways to get involved. You can contact your local association or you can contact PDA directly at( 717) 234-5941 and say that you want to get involved. I also strongly encourage you to download and use the PDA Go App to learn more to get involved.
If you don’ t have time to take on larger tasks you can tell your local that you want to be involved on a small scale and with shorter tasks. You can also learn more about the PDA SIGMA Teams on a state level. SIGMA stands for Strategic Idea Generation for Member Advancement. There are four SIGMA teams, and they are Profession, Member Services, Governance, and Enterprise.
While these teams require a commitment, the commitment is more manageable and there are usually 2 to 4 virtual meetings annually.
PDJ: What do you like to do for fun? And can you tell us a few fun facts or maybe share some things about yourself that most people don’ t know?
Dr. Rockwell: I like to bicycle on off road paved and packed dirt trails in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and occasionally in Vermont and New Hampshire, and work out at the gym and run outdoors sometimes.
I like to look at classic cars and sports cars, and hope to buy another soon, after having had a 2012 Camaro and a 1970 Cutlass muscle car in the past.
Most people don’ t know that I was deployed to Ar-Ramadi Iraq with an Army Medical Company as the sole dentist on a Marine base in a combat zone. Also, the Air Force sent me to Paraguay three times and to Kenya, both of which are beautiful and exotic.
PDJ: What have you learned about yourself during these early weeks of your presidential term?
Dr. Rockwell: I’ ve learned that I have a lot more friends in the PDA and the ADA, including PDA Board members, PDA staff members, the PDA Executive Director, ADA leaders, and PDA members from across the state from Erie to Pittsburgh to Scranton-Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia than I ever imagined. I’ ve learned I care very much about all of our members and that I hope that I can affect a positive change for dentists, their staff, and their patients so that I can leave everyone in a better position after my term than when I began my term. I’ ve learned that I have a lot more stamina than I realized by trying to do all that needs to be done, in a short time and sometimes on very short notice.
JULY / AUGUST 2025 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 31