I go to the mountain side of the house to cut saplings, and clear a view to snow on the mountain. But when I look up, saw in hand, I see a nest clutched in the uppermost branches. I don’t cut that one. I don’t cut the others either. Suddenly, in every tree, an unseen nest where a mountain would be. (Choices, by Tess Gallagher)
December 2022
Nota Bene American Association of Dental Editors & Journalists
Resolution 411 Passes ADA HoD Represents Major Investment in Dental Communications It was a long and winding road, but Resolution 411 finally was adopted by the ADA House of Delegates during the October 2022 ADA Annual Session. The significance of 411 is enormous, as it addresses and corrects concerns over the loss of historical content and archives, including valuable dental content found in many state and local dental publications, related to the dental profession. The resolution to electronically archive such information carried with a huge price tag, which initially gave pause to some ADA members who were understandably worried about diminishing membership, rising inflation and the passage of a big ticket initiative, namely the ADA Board’s proposal to conduct an in-depth strategic forecast to address the future of organized dentistry. The origins of Resolution 411 are rooted in PubMed’s decision back in 2017 to deselect indexing of all state and component dental journals, which greatly decreased accessibility to published articles. Proponents argued that Resolution 411 met organizational objective seven of the ADA’s Strategic Plan, namely to improve overall organizational effectiveness at state and national levels. Moreover, dental associations throughout the country responded to ADA surveys indicating that a national archive would meet tremendous readership needs while addressing funding and staffing deficits.
ADA Leadership Commits to Working with AADEJ for Continued Success As part of AADEJ’s ongoing rebuild, Board members met in Houston during SmileCon with ADA leadership: President George Shepley, Immediate Past President Cesar Sabates, and Executive Director Raymond Cohlmia. The face-to-face conversation culminated the AADEJ’s successful two-day annual meeting and continuing education sessions, and provided all a unique opportunity to share ideas and lay the groundwork for what promises to be a fortuitous partnership between the two organizations. Dr. Cohlmia noted that like AADEJ, the ADA is committed to retaining and promoting the finest principles and ethics of dentistry and to that end, excellence in dental journalism is a necessity. Future issues of Nota Bene, the Communicator and the AADEJ website will include updates on how the ADA and the AADEJ are working together to benefit the membership of today….and tomorrow.
On behalf of the entire Board, thank you all for AADEJ’s successful year! Your support, cooperation and contributions have ignited AADEJ’s rebirth. We look forward to seeing you in 2023 with a lot of fresh ideas and new energy. Wishing you and your families a Happy New Year.