Spring is upon us! It's been full year since the COVID 19 crisis was officially named a pandemic. Though this year has been challenging and devastating in countless ways, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccine roll out and availability is increasing, cases are going down and society as a whole is beginning to rebound. I commend you all for your strength and leadership this year.
Speaking of leadership, I would like to invite all of you to join me at the FDA hosted LEAD event! Leaders Emerging Among Dentistry will be virtual this year, and there has never been an easier way to dip your toe in the leadership pool. Leadership doesn't always come easy, so take advantage of 3 hours of FREE courses on public speaking, running an effective meeting, image branding and more!! Join in for the whole lecture series or just pop in for parts you are interested in. Remember....it FREE! April 16th, 2021 9am-12am. Please take the time to register here: floridadental.org/lead. As always, feel free to reach out if you have questions or need more information.
Dentists' Day on the Hill went entirely virtual this year! Although it was virtual, our voice and representation was just as CRITICAL. Thanks to all who attended this event. It is a very important part of advocacy for our great profession. Dr. Brent Mayer is our official FDA PAC Chairman for the West Coast District Dental Association. If you have questions about the legislative issues and topics being discussed this year, please reach out. He's happy to get you up to speed! Dr. Mayer's email baysideendo@gmail.com.
Our final in person meeting of the year is April 7th, with Jessica McCarry, PA, speaking on Facial Rejuvenation for the Modern Dentist. Looking forward to seeing more and more faces at the meeting as we slowly work back to normal-ish. We are still offering the virtual series for the both Upper PCDA and HCDA. Be sure to register for CE you are interested in. Next year and possibly over the summer we hope to start safely launching more social programs. We will keep you updated!
Hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break and see you in April.
Kristie Johnson, DMD
President of PCDA
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PCDA General Membership Meeting
April 7, 2021
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Facial Rejuvenation for the Modern Dentist |
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Program Details
When: Wednesday, April 7, 6:00pm Social – 7:00pm Business & Lecture
Where: The Club at TI, 400 Treasure Island Causeway, Treasure Island
Topic & Speaker: Facial Rejuvenation for the Modern Dentist, Jessica McCarry, PA
Program Description: After attending this course, the participant should be able to:
- Discuss dentists’ qualifications for performing facial injectable therapy, and the importance of staying abreast of the latest evidence-based approaches to cosmetic treatment.
- Explain clinical strategies for patient assessment, communication, treatment planning and therapy in this field.
- Describe the specialized knowledge and training required to provide this form of treatment.
RSVP: Final RSVP needs to be received by April 2, 2021.
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Affiliate Collaboration Virtual Seminar Series |
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The Pinellas, Upper Pinellas and Hillsborough County Dental Associations have teamed up to provide additional added value and benefit to your membership! This year, due to ever-changing circumstances, each one of our affiliates will live-stream their lectures in addition to the regularly scheduled in-person general membership meeting. Members in all three affiliates will have access to 15 virtual CE webinars! Pre-registration is required prior to each virtual meeting.
Post webinar, a CEU Certificate will be emailed to you by your affiliate, and the WCDDA will upload the course attendance into CE Broker for you.
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Upcoming Virtual Seminars |
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Facial Rejuvenation for the Modern Dentist, Jessica McCarry, PA
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Oral Pathology, Dr. Donald Cohen
Pre-registration is required for the virtual lectures.
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Are You Interested in Sharing Your Expertise? |
If you are interested in presenting or speaking to provide CE to your PCDA colleagues at future meetings - please let us know! Submit your resume or speaking portfolio to smilepinellas@gmail.com by April 30th of each year. |
Do you volunteer your time and skills or donate dentistry in your office or away from the office? The Florida Dental Association has offered a Pro-Bono reporting tool to the Pinellas County Dental Association. The form is brief and concise, and the amount of hours donated can be used as a powerful tool when speaking to legislators. PCDA will include the link in each issue of the newsletter.
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Calling All New Dentist Colleagues! |
Do you know of a new dentist in the area? Encourage them to join the PCDA! New dentist member dues are discounted for the first year! Email smilepinellas@gmail.com for more information. |
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New Dentist Seeking Opportunity |
Hello everyone, my name is Dr. Matthew Figueroa. I am a graduate of Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, and I am a current GPR resident at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. I am looking to move back to my home state of Florida as soon as I complete my residency in July 2021. I am a highly motivated, personable, and fun loving doc who strives for excellence at every opportunity. I am bilingual (English and Spanish). I am comfortable with surgical and non-surgical extractions, bone grafting, fixed prosth, straight forward molar endo (rotary and warm vertical trained), dentures, and treating pediatric patients. My residency has provided me with the experience to place and restore implants, extract impacted wisdom teeth, perform perio surgeries such as crown lengthening and osseous surgery, treat patients with temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain, provide Invisalign services to patients, and work with dental anesthesiologists during IV and oral conscious sedation procedures. I value the importance of mentorship and CE opportunities for continued academic and clinical growth, and I am seeking an associateship where I can grow both myself and the practice with future goals to partner, buy-in, or buy-out." I can be reached at (786) 537-6504 or smilebyfig@gmail.com.
Thank you so much!
Dr. Figueroa
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ADA, FDA & WCDDA Membership Dues |
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Membership Dues for the ADA, FDA & WCDDA are Due!
If you've already made a payment, thank you for your continued membership! If you have not yet submitted payment, please use the link below to pay or view your options.
Regardless of which payment option you choose, you will continue to enjoy the many benefits of FDA membership, and the self-satisfaction knowing that you are advancing the dental profession through local, state and national advocacy efforts. If you have questions at any time that are not answered through our frequently asked questions, please feel free to contact us via the following means:
1-800-877-9922
Thank you for your continued membership and support of the dental profession. We can’t do it without you! Best wishes for success in 2021!
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Optimize Your Practice: Understanding the CDT Code, Dental Benefits, Claim Processing, Contracts - and More |
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Codes for COVID-19 Vaccination Procedures and Molecular Testing Added to CDT 2021!
Virtual Lecture
3 CEU's
You don't want to miss Dr. Christopher Bulnes and Dr. Jessica Stilley-Mallah's discussion on how you can optimize your dental practice in 2021.
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize how dental plan provisions affect reimbursement for services
- Implement ADA coding tools for accurate and error-free claim submissions
- Identify payer CDT Code misuse to appeal adjudication decisions
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Come to The Ritz-Carlton, Naples to end the summer in style on August 6-8, 2021. The Annual Summer Meeting is held each year at a beautiful resort on the beaches of southwest Florida. The association offers 9 hours of continuing education credit throughout this three day meeting (virtual and live in-person options). Rooms reservations are filling fast!
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PCDA Important Dates
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Injectables, Jessica McCarry, PAThe Club at Treasure Island
May 2021
End of the Year Celebration
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Would it make your life easier to receive text notifications from PCDA? We encourage you to subscribe and text the word PCDA to 33222.
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Other Important Dates
June 24-26, 2021
Orlando
July 30-31, 2021
Jacksonville
August 6-8, 2021
Naples
October 11-15, 2021
Las Vegas
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Volunteer Opportunities - St. Pete FREE Clinic |
Dear Colleagues:
I hope you and your families are well and resuming your practices given the “new normal” as we recover from the COVID-19 slow down. The last several months have certainly been somewhat stressful and somewhat restful as we have endured significant financial concerns, practice limitations, and variations in protocols for infection control and patient management. I am confident that the future will allow us to better care for our patients and safeguard our staff members even though we would have appreciated a bit less abruptness.
The St. Pete Free Clinic has resumed its patient treatment, and many of these patients have been unable to obtain care for oral infections and pain relief. There is an urgent need for our dental association to step up. Our commitment to our community will hopefully be shared and displayed by ALL of us. I would like to request that upon receiving this letter, that you give Claudia Rosas a call at the Free Clinic in order to offer help with treating patients. Attached is a link to the google sheet where you can sign up to volunteer. Please follow the instructions that will be on the google sheet. The brand new clinic facility has begun its operation, and I have already had the opportunity to be there and begin the post COVID – 19 functions. They have made important changes in protocols to become compliant with the CDC/OSHA/ADA guidelines. I would welcome a call should you have any questions regarding PPE supplies and patient care. Claudia can be reached at the following number 727-485-8795 ext. 328 or you may e-mail her at claudia.rosas@stpetersburgfreeclinic.org
I want to thank each of you for being willing to participate in sharing in the care of our St. Petersburg community that cannot afford dental treatment. As our emergency room physicians have borne the brunt of the pandemic, our opportunity to provide help to patients with dental emergencies is here, and our involvement will allow a reduction in emergency room visits due to dental concerns. Please ask your office coordinator to call Claudia upon receiving this letter to confirm a date to help. If we all participate and commit one day volunteering at the clinic, our work will be light and the community will be served well. Thanks in advance for being part of this great effort.
Sincerely,
John H. Thee, DMD
727-347-3777
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A Piece of Pinellas County History
One hundred and fifty years of Pinellas County (Hillsborough until 1912) Dentistry is now a book “From Rocking Chairs to Robotics” by Jon Wilson, a historical journalist who captures the passion, talent, personalities and determination of a wide variety of dentists. Dentists who forged a primitive reaction to suffering into a noble profession with the highest ethical standards to achieve community oral health. Time has proven that as the mouth is healthy so is the body. Dentists are Medical Specialists and their civic efforts to improve physical health are unequaled in the medical field, which has too long ignored the contribution of dentistry to the science of health. Hopefully, our new generation of dentists will relish the stories and be inspired by ‘the old guard’ on our “founding fathers” who sacrificed monetary gain and fame for integrity in being an advocate for their patients in the face of the economic pressures. The book will make you proud you are a dentist, belonging to an
unusually gifted association. The battles that have been fought will be fought again to keep commercialism, and industry control at bay while at the same time preventing government intrusion that impairs doctor/patient relationships. The book will equip our grandchildren dentists with the knowledge and fortitude to take dentistry into a desirable intentional future. Our great history should be a sellout. Hope everyone of us will want the pride of our profession on our office bookshelf.
Dr. John Harrison with the spirit of Dr. Chuck Martin.
If you are interested in purchasing a copy, contact the Pinellas County Dental Association at smilepinellas@gmail.com or call (727) 342-0374.
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Executive Board & Committees 2020-2021 |
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Kristie Johnson, DMD
President and Delegate
Brent Mayer, DMD
President-Elect and Delegate
Deborah Lowry, DMD
Vice President and Alternate Delegate
Devin Gapstur, DMD
Secretary and Alternate Delegate
Ronak Shukla, DMD
Council Chair-At-Large and Alternate Delegate
Kenneth Grundset, DDS
Executive Treasurer
Charles Ford, DMD
Ethics Chairman
Luis Martinez, DMD, PA
Peer Review Chairman
Gregory Langston, DMD
Delegate
Rita Hurst, DMD
Editor
Gabriele Spinuso, DDS
Immediate Past President and Alternate Delegate
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