Help Shed Light on the Dental Profession

Help Shed Light

on the Dental Profession

By Liz Gesenhues, DDS

Engaging in politics is not something I’ve ever wanted to pursue; I had zero respect for politicians, and it really bothered me to give my hard-earned money to the political action committees (PACs)! However, my years in the Florida Dental Association (FDA) House of Delegates (HOD) made me painfully aware of how the political/ legislative process was being used to advance the special interests of others at the expense of dentists, their patients and the profession. The HOD also gave me the opportunity to see how hard our lobbyists worked for us. That realization resulted in Step 1: I loosened my wallet and became a PAC supporter.

Step 2 came when I decided to participate in Dentists’ Day on the Hill (DDOH) and marveled at how effectively our state, district and local leadership addressed our concerns with lawmakers. It demonstrated how tightly coordinated they work with FDA Chief Legislative Officer Joe Anne Hart and her team. DDOHshowed me how much pressure lawmakers come under from so many directions — everyone has a special need/interest they want addressed. Our legislators are no different than the rest of us; they have areas of expertise from their work and personal life, and just don’t know it all! They depend on input from trusted sources to shed light on areas they are not familiar with or an expert in, which helped me realize how important it was to be a legislative contact dentist (LCD). When the dental therapy bill was first presented, I was so riled up I marched to my legislator’s office to register my complaint. That resulted in Step 3: I became an LCD.

I’ve heard every excuse under the sun about how people don’t have time to get involved politically and I get it. But it isn’t an option — if you don’t want a bureaucracy (insurance, legal, political) dictating your clinical practice, you’d better at least make the

time to contact your legislators! It’s not that complicated: Find out who your state legislators are, bookmark their websites, have a form letter started with the most important info (the name and address of the legislator) on it and when a topic of interest comes up, insert your thoughts, opinions and recommendations and fire it off to every person who is representing you. If your legislator has an office reasonably close to you, drop in and introduce yourself. You’ll probably spend your time chatting with their assistants, but they are a wealth of information and can help you a lot, as they sure did for me!

If you love the profession you’re in, get involved with it.

Our legislators are no different than the rest of us; they have areas of expertise from their work and personal life, and just don’t know it all!