the family dentist

Official Publication of the Ohio Academy of General Dentistry              
Web Edition

WHY A.G.D???

Member since 1976...This statement appears upon my AGD membership card. A similar statement is on every AGD membership card. The only difference is the year included in the statement. When I renew my membership for the calendar year 2005, I will be in my 29th year of membership in the Academy of General Dentistry. Why does anyone remain a member of any organization for 1 year or 5 years, or 10 years and why on earth for 29 years? There are over 33,000 answers to that question. Each member of the academy will have his or her own unique answer. For some it is the friendships that we have formed with others. For others it is the recognition of long hours of work and study to improve professional skills that the Fellowship and Mastership awards provide. Many feel the sense of security that being part of a large group with similar interests can provide. While some feel their membership allows them to give back to their profession, which has enriched their life by serving as leaders or mentors to others. Most often our reason for membership is a combination of the things I have listed along with many others blended in a mixture that is ours alone. 

When you receive your renewal for next year take a moment, to reflect upon your particular reasons for joining the Academy of General Dentistry and the reasons you have remained a member for 5 or 10 or in my case 29 years. Relate these thoughts to a friend and colleague who is not a member and encourage them to join so that they might benefit from membership.

Ken Garrett, DDS, MAGD

March / 2012

I am happy to report favorable news for the Academy’s efforts on several fronts.

First and foremost, our Academy of General Dentistry will become better known and recognized among the general population due to our involvement in the National AD Council campaign, “Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives”.  This campaign is sponsored by the Dental Trade Alliance, which is a nonprofit agency.  Although this effort involves the financial support of several dental alliances such as the ADA, AAP, our involvement is crucial to keep our organization and members in the limelight as dental care providers.  The intended results are not to necessarily drive patients to our offices, but rather to focus attention on the importance of home health care, and professional dental care among the lower income families of our country.  Focus will be on the preventative care that should be provided for children and the benefits of the improved lifestyle afforded by being free of dental disease.  The roll out date of these ad’s has not been identified, but I would expect we should be seeing and hearing from this effort within the year.

Secondly, the real estate task force has been very busy in terms of finding a permanent home for our national offices.   The lease on our current space in the ADA building is expiring in 2014.  Just as home ownership is often preferred and desirable for most American families, the potential to own an office building for our national headquarters has financial incentives as well as the appeal of further establishing our Academy as an entity unto itself, rather than be tethered to the ADA.  Specifics cannot be revealed but a property has become available that seems to meet all our needs, and is likely to be affordable.  Thanks to the Investment Committee of  Dr.’s  John Portwood, Kevin Anderson, and Bryan Edgar,  the financial health of our Academy has come from a near ‘life support’ status in the early 2000’s to an enviable position of financial health and wellness that has made the consideration of obtaining real estate in Downtown Chicago a near reality.  I’m excited to announce that Dr. Kevin Anderson will be an upcoming speaker at a Doctor/spouse meeting this coming year.  This will be the first joint CE meeting between Ohio and Indiana to my knowledge in quite some time.   Kevin has retired from dentistry while in his 40’s and runs a lucrative investment firm.   He is eager to share his expertise with us.  Details of this meeting will be forthcoming once specific dates and location(likely the Cincinnati area) are determined.

As of this month, we have a new IT director at the national office.  The recent chaos created by our main frame failure sent the national office into a tail spin of confusion and inactivity since all the systems were inoperable for several days this past November.  For those of you who noticed the problems of trying to access the web site or CE records, the problem has been rectified, and further improvements are forthcoming.  The new IT director is charged with hardware updates and improvements, then to focus on a redesign of the AGD web site to make it more user friendly and intuitive for our members.  His focus is also to in still attractiveness for prospective members, and provide a great resource for the general public in regards to dental health.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the 2012 Annual meeting, June 21-24 in Philadelphia.  This is definitely a family destination in addition to the learning opportunity you’ve come to expect from the AGD.  Hope to see many of our Regions members there!

Best regards,

Ted Reese, DDS, MAGD
Indianapolis
Region VII trustee

www.agd.org (you must be a member to access the journal page at the AGD website)

Academy of General Dentistry
211 East Chicago Avenue Suite 1200
Chicago, IL  60611-2670
Office: 888.AGD.DENT
FAX: 312.440.0559

the family dentist is published
quarterly by the Ohio Academy of
General Dentistry
Mailing address: 
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Phone 440.235.9590  
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