President’s Message
by Kristopher P. Rappold, D.D.S. – NODA President
Esteemed NODA members,
Fall is here and more importantly so is football. Saints, Tigers, and Green Wave are all in full swing and we with them all great seasons. As Coach Orgeron says…well, we are not really sure what he is saying but we do know it always ends with “Geaux Tigers!”
Thank you to all of the members that have renewed their membership and please encourage colleagues to do the same. Many members ask what does NODA, LDA, and ADA do for me? This is a very fair question. Let’s address this briefly.
Currently, the ADA stands at 161,000 proud member dentists. In 2017, 198,517 dentists were shown to be using their dental degree in some fashion. This indicates that membership is at 81% which makes our voice strong. In contrast, the American Medical Association has less than 25% of practicing physicians as members. This figure is down from 75 percent where it was back in the 1950s. The medical profession has become nearly completely insurance reliant while dentistry preserves some separation from insurance. We are much stronger as a collective whole rather than several splinter groups such as what has happened with the AMA. Continuing education offerings and discounts on several services are very nice but let us not forget the most notable benefit: preserving our profession and fighting for the benefit of the patients and doctors alike. For your colleagues who are not currently members, please let them know that we are here to support them regardless. We fight for everyone as what benefits the members also benefits the whole. However, please let them know that we welcome them back with open arms and cannot continue this fight without them. Let us stand together and do whatever we can to further our profession as one body and one voice. Our profession, colleagues, dental schools, families, and patients are depending on you.
We have several exciting events coming up. On October 10th, Dr. Charles McCabe will be lecturing on “Periodontal Guidelines for Successful Cosmetic Dentistry” at our beloved Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant. This site always attracts many participants due to the comfortable and relaxed New Orleans atmosphere and delicious traditional cuisine. On November 14th, Dr. Troy A. Schmedding will be speaking on “Advanced Adhesive Principles” at the LSU School of Dentistry in a FREE CE event sponsored by Kuraray Dental and New Orleans Dental Enterprises. The President of Kuraray Dental will be in attendance as well for this very special event.
I have had the privilege of attending the New Orleans Dental Conference and LDA Annual Session committee meetings over the past year. Dr. Gizelle Richard and her committee are doing some great things. I have been to several continuing education meetings and this lineup of speakers is absolutely wonderful in comparison. You will absolutely be getting a complete steal for your money to attend next year’s conference. The New Orleans Dental Conference and LDA Annual Session will be taking place at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans on May 9-11, 2019. Sign up to get the early bird rates!
The New Orleans Dental Enterprises led by Dr. Kevin Collins has been making strides to negotiate with several preferred providers to bring our members the best rates. Please go to www.NODental.org and click on “Preferred Providers” to see the list of companies and their services you can save money with today.
Halloween is closely approaching to bring us new business for November. Please make sure to provide many sugary treats to your patients in order to preserve job security for you and your staff…JOKING!
YYour NODA President,
Kristopher Rappold, DDS, MAGD, FACD, FASD
