Under a new NYS law, dentists who have a DEA registration number to prescribe controlled substances must complete at least three (3) hours of course work or training in pain management, palliative care, and addiction. 
 
The course work/training must be completed by July 1, 2017, and once every three years thereafter, pursuant to Public Health Law (PHL) §3309-a(3). Your NYSDA Foundation is now offering this fully approved course online, allowing you the option to take it at your leisure in your home or office over se
 
This course fulfills the mandate and counts as 3 hours of live CE towards your required 60 hours of CE every three years. Upon completion, your credits will automatically be added to your NYSDA Continuing Education Registry and you’ll be able to print a certificate of completion.
 
At $75 for NYSDA members, NYS Requirements for Prescribing Opioid Drugs is a reasonable alternative to live courses on the same subject matter, and what’s especially beneficial is the fact that it allows the ability to take the course in multiple settings, as opposed to doing so all in one three-hour shot.
 
Finally, taking NYS Requirements for Prescribing Opioid Drugs benefits the public, too, while promoting the fact that dentistry is a caring and healing profession. Proceeds will go toward oral health outreach programs, including the 2017 NYS Veterans Smile Initiative.
 
The New York State Dental Foundation is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider Approved. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. 
 
The New York State Dental Foundation designates this activity for three (3) hours continuing education credits. 

Click here to take the online course

Chicago, January 17, 2017 – The ADA Foundation has a new toll-free number for Give Kids A Smile (GKAS): 1-844-490-GKAS (4527). Callers can find out whether there is a GKAS program in their area, including parents and caregivers seeking oral health services for their children and dental team members and others interested in volunteering at a GKAS event.
Give Kids A Smile is the ADA Foundation’s signature children’s oral health access to care program. Through GKAS, children who may not have access to oral health services can receive free oral health education, screenings, preventive care and/or dental treatment from volunteer dentists and dental team members.
Callers will speak to staff in the American Dental Association’s Member Service Center (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. CST) who will provide them with contact information for a GKAS event in their community (if available). Callers can then contact the GKAS program directly to determine availability, what services are offered, and the program date. Although many GKAS events take place in early February, numerous others occur throughout the year.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Give Kids A Smile. During GKAS’ first 14 years, more than 5.5 million children have received free oral health services from 500,000 volunteers, including 137,000 dentists and 420,000 other volunteers.
Visit ADAFoundation.org/GKAS for more information or to make a donation.​

About the ADA Foundation
As dentistry's premier philanthropic and charitable organization, the ADA Foundation is a catalyst for uniting people and organizations to make a difference through better oral health. The ADA Foundation provides more than $800,000 in grants, scholarships, and awards annually to programs that are in alignment with the organization’s four mission pillars: Charitable Assistance, Access to Care, Research, and Education (C.A.R.E.). As part of these efforts, the ADA Foundation oversees Give Kids A Smile® and also oversees the ADA Foundation Volpe Research Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland (formerly the Paffenbarger Research Center). For more information about the ADA Foundation, visit www.adafoundation.org.

Among this year’s inductees to the International College of Dentists (ICD) are two members of the NYS Dental Foundation Board of Trustees (shown here, front*), Dr. Mark Bauman and Dr. Maria Maranga. Membership in the  ICD, the world’s oldest and largest honor society for dentists, is by invitation only, and extended only to those members of the profession who adhere to the motto, Recognizing Service and the Opportunity to Serve. Drs. Bauman and Maranga were among those who passed a rigorous peer review process leading to the recognition of their “outstanding professional achievement, meritorious service and dedication to the continued progress of dentistry for the benefit of humankind.”
 
Also honored by the ICD during the 2016 ADA Annual Session in Denver was former NYSDF Trustee Mr. Steven W. Kess, vice president of Global Relations, Office of the Chairman and CEO, Henry Schein, Inc. Mr. Kess, who continues to serve as an advisor to the Foundation, is a visionary who has synthesized the concerns of business and public policy concerns, showing that industry can “do well by doing good.”

​The deadline for Round 3 of the Drinking Water Fluoridation Fund is approaching fast.  The funding opportunities from the NYS Department of Health support costs related to the construction, installation, repair, replacement, or upgrade of fluoride equipment in drinking water facilities. Both opportunities are now posted on the NYS Grants Gateway.
 
One opportunity supports municipalities with funding up to $50,000 for the planning and implementation of community water fluoridation.  Component 1 (Grants Gateway # DOH01-DWF1R3-2016) will pay for development of an engineering report to initiate or maintain water fluoridation.  Component 2 (Grants Gateway # DWF2R3-2016) will pay for the upgrade, replacement, repair or purchase of equipment to initiate or maintain water fluoridation. 
 
The second opportunity (RFA- Grants Gateway # DOH01-DWF3R3-2016) supports municipalities seeking to upgrade, replace or repair existing water fluoridation equipment or install fluoridation systems in public water systems that have authorized the implementation of fluoridation.  Applicants may request between $50,001 and $1 million in funding.
 
Applications for both components will be accepted until November 4, 2016. 
 
More information on the grants and important dates can be found on the Department of Health website or by contacting oralhealth@health.ny.gov.

CHICAGO, Sept.  30, 2016 – The ADA Foundation Board of Directors this week elected William R. Calnon, D.D.S. as president, and also elected several new and continuing members to its Board of Directors. 
 
Dr. Calnon, who practices general dentistry in Rochester, New York, has served as a member of the ADA Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2013, most recently as vice president of scientific research. He was the 2011-2012 president of the ADA after serving a four-year term on the ADA Board as the trustee from the Second District, which represents New York.  Dr. Calnon will follow the two-year term of Dr. Reneida E. Reyes, a pediatric dentist in Brooklyn, New York.
 
ADA Foundation Board Appointments
 
Newly elected ADA Foundation Board members include:

-Ann Bruck, RDH, U.S. Industry Relations and Professional Services Manager, 3M Oral Care, St. Paul, Minnesota
-Howard I.A. Lieb, D.M.D., Staten Island, New York
-Mary J. Hayes, D.D.S., M.S., Chicago, Illinois, elected to complete the one-year unexpired term of Dr. Calnon
 
Directors chosen to renewed terms are:
 

-Maritza Morell, D.M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Andover, Massachusetts, elected to a full four-year term after having completed Dr. Reneida Reyes’ remaining term when she was elected ADAF President in 2014
-Michele Penrose, Director of Global Professional Relations, Henry Schein, Inc., Melville, New York, elected to a second four-year term
 
ADA Foundation Executive Committee Appointments
 
Directors newly elected to the ADAF Executive Committee from among the ADAF Board of Directors Members at Large are:

​-Vice President of Scientific Research: Gary Jeffers, D.M.D., M.S.
-Vice President of Finance: Roger L. Kiesling, D.D.S.
-They join current Executive Committee members Edward Green, D.M.D., Vice President of Grants; and Frank Maggio, D.D.S., Vice President of Development, who will continue their service on the ADAF Executive Committee.
 
Visit adafoundation.org <http://www.adafoundation.org/>  for more information or to make a donation.
 
Editor’s Note: Photographs available upon request.  Please contact Cathy Haibach, haibachc@ada.org <mailto:haibachc@ada.org> , or 312.440.2544.
 
###
 
About the ADA Foundation
 
As dentistry's premier philanthropic and charitable organization, the ADA Foundation is a catalyst for uniting people and organizations to make a difference through better oral health. The ADA Foundation provides more than $800,000 in grants, scholarships, and awards annually to programs that are in alignment with the organization’s four mission pillars: Charitable Assistance, Access to Care, Research, and Education (C.A.R.E.). As part of these efforts, the ADA Foundation oversees Give Kids A Smile® and also oversees the ADA Foundation Volpe Research Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland (formerly the Paffenbarger Research Center). For more information about the ADA Foundation, visit www.adafoundation.org <http://www.adafoundation.org/> .
 

Many provisions of the final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, went into effect July 18, while others take effect October 16. One of the rule’s requirements is that covered entities must post taglines in the top 15 non-English languages spoken in their state. A tagline is a short statement that indicates that language assistance services, free of charge, are available.
 
The ADA has been working throughout the summer to alert members about Section 1557 and the resources the Association has developed, including a list of frequently asked questions and a checklist for dental practices. Although the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has provided a sample tagline, the ADA developed a more targeted sample tagline related to language assistance services.
 
The ADA tagline is being translated into the languages needed to comply with the tagline requirement and will be available in mid-September. Translations of the OCR sample tagline are available on the OCR website. Taglines are not required until October 16, thus allowing members sufficient time to post the ADA’s taglines, which will be available in a convenient state-by-state format. Sample taglines are available below.
 
Covered entities may develop their own taglines, as long as the tagline is compliant with the final rule. The covered entity would need to have the tagline translated into the top 15 languages in its state.
 
Several members have inquired about documenting patient encounters where an interpreter or translator were necessary, and/or coding for interpretation or translation services. In addition to including any narrative in the patient record, and beginning in 2017, a new CDT code can be used.  D9994 dental case management – patient education to improve oral health literacy will be available. An ADA News story was just posted online regarding the new code; the story will be in the print edition of ADA News on September 19. 
 
The Department of Health and Human Services has released an updated list of the ‘Top 15’ non-English languages spoken by state.  The ADA is in the process of comparing this new list with the one previously provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and plans to provide more information on the differences in its next Leadership Update. 
 
Finally, members can view all of the ADA’s Section 1557 resources at ADA.org/1557. And don’t forget to watch the recent webinar Understanding Section 1557.
 
Sample Taglines
 
OCR Sample Tagline
ATTENTION:  If you speak [insert language], language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you.  Call 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx (TTY: 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx).
 
ADA Sample Tagline
We will take reasonable steps to provide free-of-charge language assistance services to people who speak languages we are likely to hear in our practice and who don’t speak English well enough to talk to us about the dental care we are providing. 

​As part of the NYSDA/Foundation Dental Demonstration Project, through which volunteer dentists provide dental treatment to people in need of such care within Article 28 facilities and Federal Qualified Health Centers, we are happy to announce the following upcoming events:
 
Oak Orchard Community Health Center in Brockport, Saturday, 15 October
 
University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, Saturday, 12 November
 
Regional Primary Care Network/Wayne Community Health Center in Lyons, Saturday, 19 November
 
In addition to providing dental treatment, the NYSDA/Foundation Dental Demonstration Project raises awareness of the importance of oral health to overall health, and, in the process, enrolls new patients into ongoing treatment in a dental home, thus eliminating the need for these patients to seek emergency room care for dentistry.
 
Dr. Brendan Dowd, NYSDA Vice President and former Foundation Trustee, has been instrumental in providing the leadership necessary in recruiting volunteer practitioners to events. “By participating in these demonstrations,” explains Dr. Dowd, “you not only do a great service to individuals, but you also prove, once again, to our elected officials that our profession gets things done.”

Betsy Bray is the newly hired Oral Health Workforce Director who is responsible for developing the public health/dental home piece of the Dental Demonstration Project. Says Bray, “Getting patients into ongoing treatment – into a dental home – is a huge part of what we’re doing. It’s integral to NYSDA’s potential for continued and ongoing State funding to conduct these private/public partnerships.”
 
Dentists and dental hygienists who volunteer as part of any of the above mentioned Dental Demonstration Projects will be recognized by the New York State Dental Foundation’s new Volunteer Registry; this is also where you can sign up to volunteer for any and/or all of the NYSDA/Foundation Dental Demonstration Projects. For more information, contact Cyndy Fiegl, project coordinator, at cfiegl@8ddsny.org. See this site for continuous updates and further information. 

​The New York State Dental Foundation maintains an ongoing inventory of dental supplies for donation to dentists and organizations which conduct outreach programs, either here in the USA or overseas. Recently, the Foundation donated dental supplies to the Mayfield Presbyterian Church Mission Group, which included NYSDA members  Vincent Filanova, DDS and Gary DiSanto-Rose, DMD. The Foundation’s donation enabled the Group to treat more 140 people and provide more than 500 dental services, including 51 cleanings, 89 fillings, 155 extractions and one incision and drainage of an infected hematoma swelling.
 
In order to continue to help those who do so much to help people desperately in need of oral health care, the Foundation has established an ongoing “call for product,” to include the items listed below. PLEASE NOTE, donators will be acknowledged for their generosity in Foundation communications, including website and newsletters, as well as in any press relations created as part of charitable missions.
 
Seeking:
 
2X2 gauze
Acid etch
Amalgam
Amalgamator
Amoxicillin
Articulating Paper
Bonding agent
Burs
Chromic gut sutures
Contra angle latch attachment
Copalite
Cotton rolls
Dental instruments
            Aspirating syringes
            Explorers       
            Hygiene
            Mirrors and handles
            Oral surgery
            Restorative
Dental ultrasonic unit
Disinfecting cleaners and wipes
Disposable lab coats
Dry socket paste
Face masks
Floss
Local anesthesia (lidocaine, mepivaine, etc.)
Needle hubs
Nitrile gloves
Pain medicine
Patient bibs
Prophy angles
Prophy past
Q tips
Sealants
Tooth brushes
Toothpaste
Topical anesthetic
Ultrasonic scalers

The New York State Dental Foundation has a simple mission: to improve the oral health of all New Yorkers. It’s a simple mission, but one that is profoundly significant and daunting.
 
As dentistry’s premier philanthropic and charitable organization in New York State, the Foundation builds relationships to help make a difference in our communities through better oral health. To that end, the Foundation has created the Donated Equipment Program; working with industry partners, the Foundation will provide donations of equipment (e.g., sterilizers, handpieces, etc.) to help community programs throughout New York State increase their capacity to provide dental treatment to vulnerable populations. . 
 
To apply for consideration for the Foundation’s Donated Equipment Program, submit the completed attached application to: Laura Leon, director, NYS Dental Foundation, 20 Corporate Woods Boulevard, Suite 602, Albany, NY  12211, or fax to (518)465-3219. ​