The January 2018 issue of the WSDA News is now available to read online.

Register by Monday, January 22 for Dental Action Day, WSDA's largest annual advocacy event.

Learn how to find Give Kids A Smile events in your area.

The Washington State Dental Quality Assurance Commission (DQAC) will hold its next Dental Continuing Competency Committee conference call meeting on Thursday, January 18.

WSDA is excited to announce the newest members of the Leadership Institute, a program that aims to foster new leadership within organized dentistry.

Make 2018 the year you get involved in dental advocacy! WSDA members make up a vital grassroots advocacy network in support of the Association's legislative agenda, which focuses on improving the dental profession.

The Washington State Dental Quality Assurance Commission (DQAC) will hold its next Dental Infection Control Committee Meeting on Friday, January 12 at 9:30 a.m. Please consider attending the meeting or submit comments on proposed dental infection control rules by Monday, January 8.

"Evidence-based Dental Pain Care: A New Opioid Prescribing Guideline from Washington State," a free half-day dental conference on opioid prescribing in Washington, has been postponed to a later date.

For years, three dental suppliers — Henry Schein Dental, Patterson Dental, and Benco Dental — have held a substantial market share in the dental supply market across the United States. Together, they have roughly 75 percent of the market, the remaining 25 percent is divvied up among regional players around the country. That may all be about to change.

WSDA member Dr. Joe Vaughn reflects on 2017 and his first full year as a new dentist.

The WSDA Relief Fund recently sent a donation of $20,000 to the ADA Foundation Emergency Grant program to help dentists who were victims of the recent hurricanes in Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas.

Register now for "Evidence-based Dental Pain Care: A New Opioid Prescribing Guideline from Washington State," a half-day, 4 CE credit dental conference in Seattle on January 8 or Spokane on January 9.

Under Initiative 1433 (I-1433), passed by Washington voters in 2016, employers will be required to provide paid sick leave beginning on January 1, 2018.

National Brush Day® is November 1, the day after Halloween! Join the Kids’ Healthy Mouths Campaign to promote the importance for kids to brush two minutes, twice a day, every day.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid on Nov. 16 announced proposed changes to Medicare drug plans, including rescinding the requirement that dentists enroll in or validly opt-out of Medicare in order for a Part D drug prescriptions to be covered.

WSDA members, register today for Dental Action Day, held in Olympia on Thursday, January 25, 2018.

Developed by the Dr. Robert Bree Collaborative and Washington State Agency Medical Directors’ Group in collaboration with actively practicing dentists and public stakeholders, the final Dental Guideline on Prescribing Opioids for Acute Pain Management was released in September 2017.

See the current lineup of dental speakers for the Pacific Northwest Dental Conference, and make sure to mark your calendars for June 21-23, 2018!