From the President doesn’t yet face. But the federal funding announcement has brought stress and worry upon dentists, especially in provinces and territories where public funding for dental care has been woefully inadequate. I believe these feelings arise from concern about that balance between our desire to serve the public good and our need to preserve our financial sustainability. We are oral health professionals. We are business people. What happens when the interests of those two identities aren’t easily aligned? A century ago, the dean of my great uncle’s dental school said in his speech to graduating dental students that practising dentistry was an act of service, a noble calling to alleviate human suffering, and an opportunity to make patients’ lives happier and healthier. This ideal has been the foundation of the social contract that accords dentistry respect, self-regulation, and trust from the public. We continually have to earn this respect and trust. To put it plainly, as a profession, we need to put the public good first and our own good second. This is expected of medical doctors, and it’s expected of us. Anything less risks losing the public trust and the confidence of government. As an association, we should not function like a union because, although we serve the dentists of Canada, we can only serve them well if we uphold our professional ideals and the long-term view of what we hope to achieve. We need to think of the people we serve as including our patients, but also the dentists of the future for whom we are stewards of our profession. Looking to the Future I’m very hopeful and excited for the future of dentistry in Canada. Today, dental school graduates have more medical training than ever before and are more oriented towards collaborative practise. Dentistry will continue to be more closely integrated into the overall medical system, while still retaining the unique features that make private practice dentistry so efficient and effective. I believe dentists will need to practise to the maximum of their scope and that this scope may expand. Indeed, we will need everyone on the oral health care team to practise to the maximum of their abilities if we are to reach all people in Canada. I can imagine dentists doing more primary care and screening for common diseases, which would benefit patients and society at large. Dentists providing vaccination—which occurred in some provinces during the pandemic and now also includes administering HPV vaccines in Alberta—is just one example of how dentistry could increase access to care throughout the health care system. If we are going to provide dental care to an additional 9 million Canadians who may benefit from the increased federal funding, we’ll need to collaborate with other health care professions as well. To help build these alliances, I’d like to see dental clinics in every hospital and large long-term care facility. A strong and well-supported Canadian dental education system will enable us to interact as equal partners with physicians. Most of the dentists that I’ve met during my career and through organized dentistry are compassionate, altruistic people. Many of us have treated patients without expectation of remuneration and we are better for it. But we must advocate for a brighter future where no Canadian will need to rely on charity for oral health care. Until we get there, dentists must continue to be healers first. I have been so honoured to serve as CDA president, and my high regard for this association has only grown. For more than a century, CDA has been the voice of the Canadian dental profession and the advocate for optimal oral health for all Canadians. We must continue to be that voice with a clear and consistent message that we are here to serve equally all who put their trust in us, without fear or favour. 8 | 2023 | Issue 2 CDA atWork
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