ADA president highlights collaborative achievements over past year

Richard Rosato, D.M.D., addresses House of Delegates

When President Richard Rosato, D.M.D., began his term at the helm of the American Dental Association one year ago, he made five promises to the House of Delegates: to be united around the ADA’s purpose, build a culture of listening, protect dentists’ clinical autonomy, take wellness seriously and start shaping the dental profession’s next 25 years.

“A few years of rapid, large-scale change and accelerated investing led to unintended consequences, including financial strain and questions on leadership’s decision — rightfully so. And as the incoming president, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘The responsibility lies with me and on me to work with everyone to get us back on track,’” Dr. Rosato told the House of Delegates on Oct. 10 in Indianapolis. “We lost trust, and we had a lot of work to do to regain it, so we recommitted to placing transparency at the heart of our decision making.”

Dr. Rosato, of Concord, New Hampshire, will conclude his term as the ADA’s 162nd president Oct. 13 after Thomas Paumier, D.D.S., is installed as the next president Oct. 12. During his presidential address, Dr. Rosato detailed the steps the ADA has taken over the last year to collaboratively address its challenges and stay rooted in its purpose.

“It is my honorable duty now to give my account of achievements this past year, a testament to what we can accomplish together when we use the past as prologue and we create a new playbook,” he said.

The ADA’s accomplishments included:

• Selecting Nader Nadershahi, D.D.S., M.B.A., Ed.D., as executive director.

• Publishing a white paper on clinical autonomy.

• Supporting the bipartisan Improving Dental Administration Act.

• Resolving the pass-through entity tax deduction.

• Supporting early career dentists with a new success hub at ADA.org/earlycareer.

• Adding mental health questions to ADA health history forms.

• Modernizing licensure through the ADA and American Board of Dental Examiners joint agreement.

• Working with the FDI World Dental Federation to cap dues and pass proxy voting.

The ADA Foundation also launched a disaster relief fund and its Give Kids A Smile program provided free dental care to 325,000 children, while the ADA Forsyth Institute ranked No. 1 in National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research funding to U.S. dental institutions.

“There are more accomplishments than time for my speech,” Dr. Rosato said. “All of you helped make these accomplishments possible.”

He explained how this same collaborative spirit has helped drive the work of his core initiative, Oral Health 2050, as it began developing a roadmap for dentistry’s next 25 years with the help of nearly 200 volunteers, and he looks forward to seeing these efforts continue. The initiative particularly focuses on artificial intelligence and technology, wellness, payment models and delivery of care.

Looking ahead to the future of the ADA and the dental profession, Dr. Rosato highlighted how respectful dialogue, thoughtful disagreement and a willingness to understand each other will be essential to moving forward together.

“The light is ADA green, the track is fast and the ADA — united by our purpose — we are back in the race,” he said.