NDA Journal 18 SNDS President’s Spring Message Richard Schoen, DDS SNDS President’s Message When I lived in Chicago during dental school, springtime was always a time of renewal after a long hard winter. Springtime this year is also a time of renewal after a long hard three years of Covid. Dentistry and the Southern Nevada Dental Society took a big hit during those years. We were forced to curtail meetings or hold them on Zoom. We saw membership decline. SNDS lost its Executive Director. After several missteps in our search for a new E.D. we were lucky to find a diamond in the rough in Ms. Esther Johnson our new E.D. Esther has taken the reigns of SNDS and has done a remarkable job, along with Dr. Ron Laux, our past president, to right the ship. As the newly elected president of SNDS, I have a tough act to follow. My main emphasis during my tenure as president will be to continue our focus on membership. We have done an excellent job retaining our current membership, but we need to increase the number of dentists that belong to organized dentistry. The percentage of dentists that belong to the ADA and its components is approaching the 50 percent mark. If we can’t stay above the 50 percent mark then we have no claim to represent the majority of dentists in America. Last month, I had the opportunity, along with other members of SNDS, to represent our society at Oral Health Day at the state capitol. Along with members from the NDA and the NNDS, we met with state legislators to discuss proposed legislation supported by dentistry in the state of Nevada. One of the things that caught my eye while in the capital was the number of people roaming the halls of the legislature wearing badges that identified them as “paid lobbyists.” It made me realize that dentistry is only a small group battling an army of special interests out to get their way over us. To combat that army of lobbyists, dentistry must increase our membership numbers. We have a great group, Tri-Strategies, representing us in Carson City. As a California Legislator once said, “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.” We need to increase our donations to our PAC. Increased membership will help fill the coffers of our PAC. Money talks, as the expression goes. So I am looking forward to leading the SNDS for the next year!0
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