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Wehkamp j.wehkamp@dental-tribune.com Dental Tribune America, LLC 213 West 35th Street, Suite 801 New York, NY 10001 Tel.: (212) 244-7181 Fax: (212) 244-7185 Published by Dental Tribune America © 2010 Dental Tribune America, LLC All rights reserved. Dental Tribune strives to maintain the utmost accuracy in its news and clini- cal reports. If you find a factual error or content that requires clarification, please contact Group Editor Robin Goodman at r.goodman@dental-tribune.com. Dental Tribune cannot assume respon- sibility for the validity of product claims or for typographical errors. The pub- lisher also does not assume responsibility for product names or statements made by advertisers. Opinions expressed by authors are their own and may not reflect those of Dental Tribune America. Dr. Joel Berg Dr. L. Stephen Buchanan Dr. Arnaldo Castellucci Dr. Gorden Christensen Dr. Rella Christensen Dr. William Dickerson Hugh Doherty Dr. James Doundoulakis Dr. David Garber Dr. Fay Goldstep Dr. Howard Glazer Dr. Harold Heymann Dr. Karl Leinfelder Dr. Roger Levin Dr. Carl E. Misch Dr. Dan Nathanson Dr. Chester Redhead Dr. Irwin Smigel Dr. Jon Suzuki Dr. Dennis Tartakow Dr. Dan Ward Editorial Board DENTAL TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Newspaper · US Edition Standards for Green Dental Prac- tice is the foundation of the Green- DOC program, providing compre- hensive, eco-friendly initiatives in eight implementation categories. The GreenDOC Checklist is available to EDA members on the association’s Web site, located at www.ecodentistry.org/GreenDOC. The GreenDOC Product Guide is a comprehensive dental industry listing of products and services that green dental offices need to go green and stay green. The EDA has sourced the products and services that share a vision for clean, green dentistry, making it easy for den- tal professionals to achieve earth- friendly initiatives. Products and services appear in one or more of the following GreenDOC categories: sustainable location; waste reduction; pollution prevention; energy conservation; water conservation; patient care, workplace policies and community contribution; leadership; and inno- vation. Combined, the GreenDOC Prod- uct Guide and GreenDOC Check- list provide dentists with the first key steps to greening their dental practice. “‘Where do I start and what products do I use?’ These are the two most common requests we receive from dental professionals,” said Susan Beck, director of the Eco-Dentistry Association. “Used together, the GreenDOC Product Guide and Checklist make the perfect going green starter kit for dental professionals.” Additional components of the GreenDOC Program lead dental practitioners through a rigorous but attainable certification pro- gram. GreenDOC how-to guides, action plans and worksheets make it simple for dental professionals to meet specific goals to achieve bronze, silver or gold certification. As a part of the program’s inter- national launch, the EDA encour- ages dental offices to register to be one of the first 100 certified offices and become a charter-certified office. The EDA’s members are located in 42 U.S. states and 11 countries. The organization was co-founded by Dr. Fred Pockrass, a dentist, and his entrepreneur wife, Ina Pockrass, who together created the model for eco-friendly dentistry, and operate their own award-win- ning dental practice in Berkeley, Calif., recognized as the first in the country to be certified as a green business. They formed the organization to stimulate a movement in the dental industry to employ environmental- ly sound practices, such as reduc- ing waste and pollution; saving energy, water and money; incorpo- rating wellness-based methods and incorporating the best technologi- cal advances in dentistry. DT (Source: Eco-Dentistry Association) Tell us what you think! Do you have general comments or criticism you would like to share? Is there a particular topic you would like to see more articles about? Let us know by e-mailing us at feedback@dental-tribune.com. If you would like to make any change to your subscription (name, address or to opt out) please send us an e-mail at database@dental-tribune.com and be sure to include which publication you are referring to. Also, please note that subscription changes can take up to 6 weeks to process. f DT page 1A News DENTAL TRIBUNE | March 20102A David F. Halpern, DMD, FAGD, president of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), testified recently during the open session of the Insti- tute of Medicine’s (IOM) first meet- ing of the Committee on Oral Health Access to Services in Washington, D.C. Halpern protested the IOM’s fail- ure to include a single practicing dentist on the committee roster. “Over 90 percent of all practicing dentists are in the private sector, and over 80 percent of dentists are pri- mary care providers. For this com- mittee to lack representation from the private sector totally deprives the study of real-world input and totally goes against the commit- tee’s charge of reaching a balanced, objective and credible conclusion,” Halpern said. Furthermore, Halpern expressed concern that the committee’s frame- work would likely produce a one- sided result of championing the use of alternative or midlevel provid- ers and neglecting commonsense approaches that utilize the full den- tal team concept to address access to care concerns. “To those whose hands aren’t in a patient’s mouth every day, alter- native delivery models look good in theory, but they are unlikely to be able to answer the question of not only whether they actually work in practice, but if they are truly also cost-effective, and not just cost- delaying,” Halpern said. The Committee on Oral Health Access to Services is one of two new IOM committees exploring oral health policy under a contract from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The second study committee, An Oral Health Initiative, is scheduled to hold its first meeting on March 31. Halpern is scheduled to testify again to protest the exclusion of practic- ing dentists on that committee and to convey concern over the study’s direction. The AGD is a professional asso- ciation of more than 35,000 general dentists dedicated to staying up to date in the profession through con- tinuing education. DT (Source: AGD) AD AGD testifies on access to care (Photo/© Photoaged, Dreamstime.com)