Newsletters


President’s Message

It has truly been an amazing year of challenge for each of us personally, for our practices, and for the professional societies to which we belong. The SWSP and AAP are no exception. Thankfully, these two associations, in conjunction with the huge efforts of the ADA, have well survived the storm levied on us over the last fifteen or so months. If you are unsure as to what I mean by this, please feel free to call me and I will be happy to share with you my thoughts on how organized dentistry/periodontics uplifted my practice and heavily influenced my patients’ care.

Throughout all of this, the SWSP Board, especially those on the Meetings Committee, spent many hours on Zoom discussing both the January and July meetings, doing the best we could and keeping our fiduciary duty to you in mind at all times.

I want to thank the Board members who have worked so diligently through all this:

President: Kristi Soileau
President-Elect: Natalie Frost
Secretary: Takanari Miyamoto
Secretary-Elect: Matt Steffer
Treasurer: Cuong Ha
Treasurer-Elect: Scott Bedichek
Past President: Pilar Valderrama

Also, the follow committee chairs deserve a shout out for their exemplary work:

Annual Meetings Committee: Shelby Nelson
Membership Committee: Matt Carlisle
Nominating Committee: Natalie Frost
Scientific Affairs Committee: Pooja Maney
John F. Prichard Prize for Graduate Research Subcommittee: Natalie Frost
Strategic Long Range Planning Committee: Scott Dowell
Executive Committee: Kristi Soileau
Budget and Finance Committee: Scott Bedichek
By-laws, Policies, and Procedures Committee: Scott Dowell
Exhibitor Committee: Jeff Pope
Governmental and Regulatory Affairs/Sedation Committee: John Dmytryk

Additionally, I want to thank the wonderfully accommodating and nimble staff of CMCP, our management team, that stood by us throughout the entire pandemic challenge.

Lastly, Dr. Crump and I are very thankful for your confidence in us as your trustees to the AAP. In case you didn’t get this already through your AAP membership mail-out, please see the following summarization of our first in-person Board of Trustees meeting since February 2020, held in Kohler, Wisconsin recently:

Dear District 5 Membership,

We are pleased that the AAP Board of Trustees met April 30 and May 1, 2021 in-person in Kohler, Wisconsin and via video conference call. The following is a summary of actions taken by your Board.


Organizational Viability

The Board of Trustees reviewed the 2022 Strategic Plan. Upon review, an amendment was added to Objective 4, originally stated as: “Increase awareness of periodontal health”, which was amended to:“Increase awareness of periodontal health and peri-implant health.”

Once the objective was amended, the Board of Trustees approved the 2022 Strategic Plan. Highlights of the 2022 Strategic Plan include enhanced digital communication with members, ongoing efforts to influence pre-doctoral periodontal education, the launch of a “think tank” comprised of up-and-coming periodontal scientists, additional outreach activities towards dental hygienists, and amplified engagement between trustees and their respective districts.


Leadership

Nominees for the 2021 AAP Awards were presented by the Volunteer Qualifications and Awards Committee with the Boardselecting recipients by ballot vote. Trustees also selected finalists for the ADEA William J. Gies Award, a nominee for the ADA Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, and a nominee for the ADA Gold Medal Award. The 2021 AAP Awards will be presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting in Miami Beach.

The Board approved proposed appointments to the 2021-2022 In-Service Examination Committee. Other appointments included naming AAP Past President Dr. Donald Clem III as the AAP representative to the ADA National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards and Dr. Giorgio Di Vincenzo as the replacement to fill the unexpired District 7 Trustee vacancy for the 2021-2022 year.

Two amendments were made to the Nominations and Elections Policy Manual to more clearly address how vacancies in elected positions should be handled. The first revision states, “If any elected position from a particular district becomes vacant prior to the expiration of a term, the President in office at the time the Trustees receive notice of the vacancy shall, in consultation with trustees (if any) from the relevant district, appoint an Active or Life Active member from that district to serve until a successor can be elected as set forth below.”

The second revision states, “It is preferred, but not required, that Officer Nominating Committee (ONC) members be past officers and/or trustees of the Academy. No member of the ONC may run for or serve in an officer position, a position on the BOT, a Director of the American Board of Periodontology, or Director of the AAP Foundation while serving on the ONC, except for Trustees who are completing their terms.”

The Board addressed the concerns shared by some Open Forum users regarding Board size. The Board agreed that being fiscally responsible with member dues is part of its fiduciary duty, but acknowledged that decreasing the size of the Board would limit the diversity of location and practice modality and place a stronger burden on a smaller number of volunteers. The Board confirmed that a finely tuned focus and commitment to advancing AAP priorities is the most important consideration, rather than the size of the deliberating body. In 2019, the Board made steps towards reducing the financial impact of its governance structure by eliminating one in-person Board meeting and leveraging online engagement for the Board and many committees. This lens towards fiduciary conservatism will continue moving forward.


Education

The AAP’s 107th Annual Meeting will take place in-person in Miami Beach from Nov. 4-7, 2021 in a new Thursday-through-Saturday format. Award increases for the Balint Orban Memorial Competition and the Research Forum Poster Competition, which both take place at the Annual Meeting, were approved. These competitions give periodontists new to the Field a platform for presenting their research; increasing the award may help attract even more submissions. Registration for the Annual Meeting is open at am2021.perio.org.

Remember that one can still register for last year’s annual meeting and derive the benefits of taking in all courses for CE credits at your own pace until one year from the 2020 meeting held last November 6-8. It’s an amazing bargain!

In other education-relevant updates, Education Consultant Dr. Nico Geurs’contract was approved for a three-year term, and the next CODA Commissioner in periodontics was selected to serve during the 2023-2026 term.


Science

Two decisions were made regarding the next Best Evidence Consensus panel. The topic “biologic mediators” was approved, and D-5 member Dr. Brian Mealey was selected as chair of a Best Evidence Consensus on the Biologic Mediators Committee. Results of the Best Evidence Consensus will be published in the Journal of Periodontology and Clinical Advances in Periodontics (CAP) in early 2023.

The Board discussed the concept of referral guidelines at length and carefully reviewed the 2006 guidelines from a historical perspective. In addition, the Board considered a draft of new guidelines based on the updated disease classification authored by an ad hoc group of members. The Board concurred that the disease classification provides a driver for referral but was wary about pursuing a prescriptive set of guidelines that may strain collaborative relationships between general dentists and periodontists. The Board ultimately concluded that the initiatives outlined in the 2021 and 2022 Strategic Plans that aim to integrate the staging and grading concept from the updated disease classification into pre-doctoral education, insurance and third-party reimbursement, dental hygiene and general dentist outreach, and consumer awareness will help drive referral to a periodontal specialist.


Membership

The Board held a robust discussion about the importance of keeping members engaged and ensuring that the Academy is best providing value to the membership. The Membership Sustainability and Growth Committee was directed to develop a plan outliningmembership engagement initiatives in collaboration with staff and outside advisors. The committee will give an update on their progress to the Board of Trustees in August of 2021. The committee was also charged with drafting a new AAP core value that includes verbiage on diversity, equity, and inclusion that will be considered by the Board of Trustees at the August meeting.

Additionally, revised AAP Connect Terms of Use were approved and will go into effect in June 2021. Members will be alerted as to these revisions in a forthcoming communication.

Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need anything further. We hope to get to visit with you and hear more about your views in San Antonio this July!

Your District 5 Trustees,
Drs. Brad Crump and Kristi Soileau


Thanks again for all you do as a periodontist and SWSP member. You’re amazing!

Kind regards,
Kristi M. Soileau, DDS, MEd, MSHCE, FACD, FICD

 

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