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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Special Report: April 2006
Beyond Braces
The California Dental Association: more than a self-serving entity
Story by Patricia Kutza
Longevity and location are vital to successful associations. The California Dental Association exemplifies this: its past stretches back to 1870 and its headquarters are “close to the political action,” explains Regina Collins, vice president of marketing and communications. “Being located in Sacramento allows us easy access to state government so that we can better represent the concerns and interests of the 23,915 members of our association.”
The CDA’s size allows its members to benefit from several subsidiaries, which include an insurance company, a holding company and the California Dental Association Foundation.
“It’s a powerful combination that few professional associations offer,” says Jon Roth, executive director of the dental foundation. “Our emphasis on diverse community-outreach initiatives is not lost on policymakers in the political arena. Our enthusiastic member support of the foundation’s initiatives sends a powerful message that CDA is not just a self-serving entity.”
Addressing the shortage of California pediatric dentists is one of the foundation’s key goals for 2006. “With grant funding, we are able to offer dentists the opportunity to enhance their skills in the area of treating small children,” Roth says.
“In exchange, we ask these newly skilled dentists to provide pro-bono dental care to underserved children referred to us from local school districts and Head Start programs.” Since the pilot program’s inception in 2005, 100 dentists have provided free care worth $275,000 to 300 children.
The California Dental Association Foundation also leverages partnerships to further oral health. In 1999, it partnered with the California Department of Health Services, the Dental Health Foundation and the California Fluoridation Task Force to develop a statewide fluoridation program.
CDA member dentists get the opportunity to shape foundation initiatives by sharing their input at CDA-sponsored conventions and focus groups.
“One of our members, through her own quality-assurance work, discovered that dentists are in the front line when treating victims of domestic violence,” Roth says. Sixty-five percent of all physical child abuse and 75 percent of all victim injures are located in the head, neck or face region.”
In response, the CDAF partnered with Blue Shield of California and its foundation to create Dental Professionals Against Violence, which has trained 2,500 dental professionals to identify signs of violence.
The foundation’s community health and research arm ensures that CDA members stay informed.
When CDA members reported having trouble hiring dental hygienists and assistants, the CDAF surveyed 13,600 dentists. “We discovered that indeed, there was a shortage of these workers between the period of 1995 through 1999,” Roth explains. “We have since used the two CDA conventions held annually to educate dentists on how to find qualified dental assistants and hygienists.”
In areas underserved by dental professionals, the CDAF offers educational grants to dental students, recent graduates and students enrolled in auxiliary programs.
The CDAF also discovered that the typical dental school graduate enters the dental workforce with prohibitive debt incurred from accumulated student loans. This financial burden is a barrier that stops many graduates from seeking employment in low-income clinics.
To counter this trend, the CDAF created the Dental Graduate Loan Reduction Program as an incentive for dental graduates to work in underserved areas in exchange for reduction or elimination of their student loan debt.
Roth, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in organizational development, says growing the CDAF is his biggest challenge. To make that happen, the foundation is launching a fundraising campaign to raise $39 million by 2012.
“When all is said and done,” Roth says, “we have to keep the energy flowing and make sure our message is clear. Otherwise the money won’t follow.
