Be Our Friend - Louisiana Dental Association

Dr. Hadlock and his family on vacation at the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa.New Orleans Dental Conference and LDA AnnualSession. Our partnership and the city of New Orleanstruly have the potential to make the premier dentaleducational meeting in Louisiana into one of thecountry’s best regional meetings.What, in your opinion, are the most criticalissues facing dentists right now and howwould you like the LDA to respond to theseissues?The most critical issue facing dentists is the conceptof mid-level providers and the models that are beingpromoted in several areas of the country. I am quiteconcerned that a new lower standard of care willbe established for too many of our patients. I amconvinced that this will be a lose-lose proposition forboth patients and dentists. Dentistry in today’s modelis truly healthcare that works. We cannot afford to losewhat is right about the current model where a welltrained dentist is the head of the team and delivers theirreversible procedures to the patient. Personally, it isincredibly disappointing to realize how little the publichealth officials value the training and skill level thatwe as dentists possess. I want the LDA to be a strongadvocate on behalf of private practice and the dentists inthis state as we also work to solve the issue of deliveryof care to truly underserved areas in Louisiana.What are your future predictions fororganized dentistry, as well as dentistry as aprofession? How do you think dentistry willchange and develop?If organized dentistry truly looks out for thebest interests of our members and their practices,preserving what has been the most successfulhealthcare model in our country, then it will remain animportant and vital part of our profession. If we do notdo this then we seriously risk becoming as irrelevantas the American Medical Association (AMA) is today.LDA membership represents almost 80 percent of thedentists in our state. The AMA’s membership is wellbelow 25 percent. Most of my physician friends do notbelong to the AMA. They tell me they feel the AMAdoes not represent their interests and the AMA stoodby and let the insurance industry and governmenttrains roll over them. Change is always inevitable.The challenge for dentistry will be to find truly winwinsolutions for our practices and our patients as wemove forward.Spring 2011 9