ADA celebrates 20 wins in 2023
Clinical practice guidelines, advocacy work among top tripartite achievements of 2023
Together, the ADA accomplished much in 2023, from advancing legislation and scientific research to delivering new resources to help dentists thrive.
“Each day, as a united ADA Tripartite, we assemble the building blocks of creating healthier communities, while also supporting our profession in advancing the art and science of dentistry,” said ADA President Linda Edgar, D.D.S. “We rarely stop to see how far we’ve come and celebrate the tremendous impact, year over year, that organized dentistry has on all our lives.”
Here’s a look back at just four of the Association’s top moments of the past calendar year.
• With the help of ADA’s State Public Affairs program, more than 100 bills were filed by 34 state dental societies looking to improve dental insurance in their states to benefit patients and dentists.
Insurers have continuously chipped away at the dentist-patient relationship while growing their own profits. In response to insurers engaging in network leasing and requiring virtual credit cards largely unchecked, the ADA decided to make dental insurance reform a high priority through the State Public Affairs program in 2018. As a result, state dental societies and the ADA have been putting control over these issues back in the hands of the dentists.
Together, the ADA, state dental societies and dentists themselves are correcting this power imbalance through advocacy.
• The ADA continued fighting for improved access to care, advocating for expanded payment codes at hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical centers so that patients can avoid surgical center billing limitations that previously denied or delayed their treatment.
In 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services established a new code that will help increase access to dental surgeries under general anesthesia in hospital operating rooms.
Appropriate coding and fair payment for these services are crucial for the continued allocation of hospital operating room resources to treat those with the most complex cases in need of comprehensive dental care.
• The ADA published a new clinical practice guideline exploring management of acute dental pain in children to support evidence-based treatment decisions on critical issues.
A guideline panel determined that, when used as directed, acetaminophen alone, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs alone, or acetaminophen in combination with NSAIDS, can effectively manage a child’s pain after a tooth extraction or during a toothache when dental care is not immediately available.
The guideline is meant to help prevent unnecessary prescribing of medications with abuse potential, including opioids.
This was the first of two guidelines on acute dental pain management. A set of recommendations for adolescents and adults was released in February 2024.
• The ADA added new discounts to support life in and out of the office, including member-exclusive offers from Threadfellows, Compliancy Group and AVID Traveling.
Members can get branded gear for their practice at Threadfellows, while saving 10% with free logo setup and shipping.
Compliancy Group’s OSHA product includes directions, instructions and tips on how to navigate an incredibly detailed law. Members can save 15% on this software, which provides the forms, programs, plans, policies and procedures, audits and training dental practices require.
Avid Traveling offers $1,000 in savings credits with member-only pricing on ocean cruises.
"We are grateful to every single ADA member for helping us to achieve these wins over the course of 2023,” Dr. Edgar said “Our collective success is a direct result of your dedication to the ADA, and there’s more great work to do for 2024.”
To read the entire list of 20 Wins in 2023, visit ADA.org/wins.
