Heartland | Ashley Bateman | 6/14/18

A proposed law in Massachusetts would license dental therapist in the state who would provide oral healthcare services such as cleanings and some nonsurgical care under the supervision of a licensed dentist, particularly to low-income residents. The Massachusetts Legislature is considering expanding dental care access in the state, particularly for low-income patients, by licensing midlevel dental care providers known as dental therapists.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (News release) – Rock Dental Brands and Apex Dental, both of Little Rock, announced Thursday that they would be combining operations. Apex Dental’s six multi-specialty dental clinics and corporate support staff, led by Dr. Todd Stewart, will join the Rock Dental Brands team.

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One of WSDA’s top legislative priorities has been to clarify the rules under which Dental Support Organizations (DSOs) can provide services to dentists in Washington. Read to learn more about DSO legislation passed in 2017 that clarifies these rules.

At Pacific Dental Services® employees receive eight (8) hours of paid volunteer time each year to support a cause or organization where they have a passion to serve. In 2017, PDS® team members volunteered 58,667 hours of their time and donated over $9 million in dentistry to patients in need.

At the local level, across our three support centers, 18 regions and 630+ supported offices, the Pacific Dental Services family serves through volunteer initiatives with partners such as the Special Olympics, the American Heart Association and Make-a-Wish.

• In March, PDS launched a partnership with WHW, formerly Women Helping Women, at the National Support Center in Irvine, and team members have collected several thousand pounds of lightly worn clothing to be donated, resold, or repurposed.
• Over 30 PDS-supported offices in Northern California partnered with the California Highway Patrol to collect over 800 teddy bears. These stuffed animals will be provided to officers to give to children who are experiencing traumatic situations.

Regionally, PDS team members partner with organizations such as KaBOOM!, “the national non-profit dedicated to bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all kids.” Regional teams give their time and resources to build playgrounds in underserved communities across the U.S. Additionally, in partnership with the Pacific Dental Services® Foundation, PDS-supported clinicians and team members provide donated dental services to patients in need through mobile dental clinics.

• To date, PDS team members have built 14 playgrounds with KaBOOM! in communities in California, Texas, and Arizona.
• PDS-supported clinicians and team members in Arizona have volunteered over 600 hours of their time to the PDS Foundation’s mobile dental clinic this year alone. Clinics have partnered with Phoenix Stand Down, House of Refuge, Changing Lives Center and Old Town Mission to provide nearly $110,000 of donated dentistry to 100 patients.
• Over 100 PDS-supported clinicians from coast-to-coast have signed up to be volunteer dentists with Dental Lifeline Network.
• During the month of March, 62 PDS-supported offices in Texas and Louisiana raised over $28,000 for Special Olympics of Texas and Louisiana.

Internationally, volunteer PDS team members travel annually to Guatemala, Fiji and Ethiopia to bring much-needed dental services to remote parts of the world, and PDS partners with charity: water to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in Ethiopia.

• Since 2016, Pacific Dental Services has partnered with the Pacific Dental Services Foundation’s Dental Clinic in Xencoj, Guatemala. Already in 2018, 18 PDS team members have provided nearly $155,000 of donated dentistry to a total of 244 patients. A team will visit the clinic again in July 2018, as well as travel to Fiji and Ethiopia to provide donated dentistry.
• To date, PDS team members have helped bring clean drinking water to 137,000 people in Ethiopia.