The ADAA and who it represents.

As the New Year unfolds, many of us start working on that New Year's resolution we made on January first. What was your New Year's resolution? I'll bet more than half of you said that you were going to start on a diet or get into better shape. Did any of you say, "I want to enhance my career and get more active in an organization that supports my profession?"

Many of us have been in the field of dentistry for many years ... many of us are just getting started. Regardless of the stage of your career, it is always important to try and better yourself and learn more about the profession you have chosen. There are many different avenues to enhance one's career. One excellent way is by belonging to an organization such as the ADAA, one that provides support and continuing education to people who want to grow in their profession. Being active in such an organization is even more important because you are adding value to the time you spent learning the skills needed to be in the field of dentistry.

Recently I reorganized our local ADAA component in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. What I learned during that process concerned me. As I was doing my leg-work trying to reestablish the district, I asked a variety of people in the dental field what they could do to help me. I wanted to get everyone interested in our organization. I asked them to join us. The reaction I got was ... this organization is for "dental assistants," not us.

I asked the vendors, dental lab techs, other dental staff such as office managers and administrators why they felt that way. Every one of them defined a "dental assistant" as being an RDA or CDA who directly assisted dentists in the clinical setting. They did not consider themselves dental assistants. They considered themselves auxiliary personnel.

I will have to admit that office managers, lab techs, sales reps, educators and other dental professionals are not normally viewed as dental assistants. However, I want to change that view. The clinical dental assistant is a very important part of the team, but so is all the other support staff. It takes educators to train and educate dental staff. It takes office managers and administrators to support the practice. It takes lab techs to make the necessary dental prosthetics for patients. It takes dental sales representatives to help supply the dental offices with the necessary dental supplies to keep a practice up and running. The ADAA represents all of them and more!

The other concern I had was hearing so much opposition from RDAs, CDAs and other dental staff about having to pay the money that is required to join our organization. Yes, they will pay to come to our meetings to get their CE hours, but they won't pay for yearly membership and they don't want to "get involved" either. "Money" and "getting involved" were the two main excuses I heard as to why not to join.

I am aware that most dentists will not pay for their RDAs, CDAs or any other dental staff to join any organization. I don't want people to focus on excuses such as expense or lack of time or desire to get involved. I want people to think of reasons as to why they should join.

They should think of what they can do to better themselves and help others in our wonderful and ever-changing profession. If you are not a caring person and don't want to help other people, then you are in the wrong profession! If you are a caring person and want to help yourself as well as others to grow in their chosen profession, then the ADAA offers a stepping-stone in that direction.

Another issue may be that people just don't know how to get started or how to get a local group going. I am happy to say that I had good people surrounding me who were willing to help in the Nashville reorganization. Our current State President, Karen Castleberry, had the idea of creating a CD to show how to organize local groups.

We took pictures at our local meetings and developed different ideas. She put together a wonderful little program in PowerPoint. It takes the guesswork out of what you need to do to start a local group. Being a part-time dental consultant in addition to being a full-time office manager, mother and wife, I have even found time to be active in my local and state groups.

I am aware of the many different organizations that represent different areas of the dental profession. For example ... the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM). I know there is an organization that represents lab techs called National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL). I am sure there are many different organizations out there. The thing that I feel that the ADAA has over and above these other organizations is that the ADAA is much better known.

We have been established since the 1920s ... more than 80 years! We also represent all aspects of the dental assisting profession, and you do not have to be an RDA or CDA to join. ADAA represents not only the clinical dental assistant, but the office/practice manager, receptionist, educator, dental product sales rep and insurance personnel or anyone working behind the scenes in the dental field.

One of the main attractions that led me to the ADAA is convenience and more "bang for the buck." ADAA offers outstanding benefits to members.

Let me explain ... as an office manager, I have the task of scheduling the dentists and staff for their continuing education. It is so much easier to pick meetings in which the CE caters to all branches of dentistry. Most of the time, the dentists I work for will pay for their staff to attend meetings that are affiliated with their own and that have meetings at the same time the dental meetings are being held. The ADAA has such Continuing Education courses in many instances and in addition provides $50,000 in professional liability insurance, $2,000 accidental death and dismemberment insurance, discounts on home study Continuing Education courses and a subscription to The Dental Assistant. It offers additional advantages that include credit card programs, major medical insurance, group term life insurance and disability income plans that are available in most states for those qualifying. Plus, you can enjoy reduced rates on hotels, rental cars and other travel plans. The best perk of all is that you get a chance to meet a lot of different people and it is a lot of FUN!

I am personally very proud to be an ADAA member and I will continue to do everything I can to educate people on what our organization can do for them in the dental profession.

By Terri Rollins, CDA, RDA, CDPMA President/Nashville Dental Assistants Association & Secretary/Tennessee Dental Assistants Association