National Projects

What Does the College Do?

Besides awarding Fellowship, what does the College do? The American College of Dentists is involved in a number of ongoing national projects, and a multitude of local and regional projects coordinated by Sections. Many of the projects are supported by the American College of Dentists Foundation. Key national projects are listed below; Section projects are not included in the summary. With the exception of LeaderSkills Workshops, activities associated with the Annual Meeting & Convocation and Summer Conference are also not included.

Ethics Projects

Since the inception of the American College of Dentists, ethics and professionalism have been integral to the organization and its activities. The College was founded in part "...to aid in the advancement of the standards...of...dentistry...to encourage the development of a higher type of professional spirit."  Some of the more recent projects and activities in ethics and professionalism are presented chronologically:

 Ethics Handbook for Dentists

The Ethics Handbook for Dentists was first published by the American College of Dentists in 2000. It is made available on a complimentary basis to educational institutions and other qualifying dental organizations (quantities may be limited).

 Ethics Wallet Cards

The Ethics Wallet Cards are made available to dental students, dentists, and organizations on a complimentary basis. The cards are normally offered to dental schools with the Ethics Handbook for Dentists.

 Courses Online Dental Ethics (CODE)

The College has developed Courses Online Dental Ethics (CODE), a series of online courses in dental ethics and professionalism available at www.dentalethics.org. There are currently twenty-seven courses available for a total of 27½ hours of continuing education credit. Most provide one hour of credit. The first course is based on the Ethics Handbook for Dentists.

 Ethical Dilemmas

A series of 52 ethical dilemmas was published in the Texas Dental Journal between 1993 and 2005. The lead author of these dilemmas, Dr. Thomas K. Hasegawa, died tragically in 2005. The dilemmas have been compiled digitally (PDF) by the American College of Dentists and are available online at www.dentalethics.org or on CD from the Executive Office.

 ACD Ethics Program

The ACD Ethics Program is a speaker series on ethics or professionalism at a major dental meeting, usually the ADA Annual Session. Continuing education credit is normally offered. This program is currently on hold.

 Professional Ethics Initiative

The Professional Ethics Initiative (PEI) is a major ethics initiative with four programs—individuals, practices, organizations, and resources. The goal of PEI is to improve the ethical climate of dentistry and enhance its ethical base. The premise for PEI is that we need more individuals with various levels of expertise in dental ethics and that appropriately structured practices and organizations not only protect against ethical lapses but help create a positive ethical climate that builds a stronger profession. The PEI has an aspirational focus and character that strives to motivate, encourage, and inspire rather than regulate and penalize.

 Ethics Resource Clearinghouse

The Ethics Resource Clearinghouse comprises the fourth program of the Professional Ethics Initiative. When finished the clearinghouse will be a major collection of ethics-related resources that dental schools and dental organizations could utilize (or contribute to). This program is designed to collect ethics resources from around the country and make these available to other schools or dental organizations that have a need. For example, if one school has developed an outstanding resource, this clearinghouse will provide a vehicle to share this with others.  Resources could include video-taped lectures, curriculum guides, workbooks, ethics dilemmas, course materials, tests, self-assessment activities, books, and more. New resources will be developed, as necessary, to supplement existing offerings.

 Introduction to Dental Ethics, Dental Ethics Facilitator Training

Part of the individual dimension of the Professional Ethics Initiative involves training more dentists in ethics and professionalism. A 7-hour entry level course was first conducted Wednesday and Thursday, September 30 to October 1, at the ACD 2009 Annual Meeting & Convocation in Honolulu. A follow-up course was conducted at our ACD 2010 Annual Meeting & Convocation in Orlando. A 7-hour Dental Ethics Facilitator Training course was held on October 10, 2911 in Las Vegas. These were not be LeaderSkills workshops and a $185 registration fee applied. .

 Ethics Education Fund

The Ethics Education Fund is an emerging project and it is planned to provide partial scholarships to dentists for formal training in ethics, likely as part of a degree program or fellowship. There is a drastic shortage of dentists formally trained in dental ethics. As a result, there are few people qualified to present ethics-related programs to dental audiences, including students. This fund will provide partial scholarships to dentists desiring to undertake additional training and education in ethics. The program will help create a much-needed cadre of speakers, writers, and researchers in this all-important area.

 Issues in Dental Ethics

Issues in Dental Ethics is essentially a publication within the Journal of the American College of Dentists. It is the only major forum for the publication of scholarly articles in dental ethics. It is coordinated by the American Society for Dental Ethics and has its own associate editor and editorial review board.

 American Society for Dental Ethics

Effective January 1, 2011, the American Society for Dental Ethics (ASDE) became the 51st Section of the ACD. ASDE is a unique, non-geographically based Section. Dental ethics is a comparatively small field, and a coordinated voice would be an advantage for two different organizations having complementary missions. ASDE was established in 2004 to succeed PEDNET (Professional Ethics in Dentistry Network, founded in 1987).

 Ethics Summits

The College has directly sponsored four Ethics Summits since 1998, the last two involved "Truth Claims in Dentistry" (2004) and the "Ethics Summit on Commercialism" (2006). The latter and most recent Summit was co-sponsored with the American Dental Association. The College was also involved with the access to care conference in the summer of 2005 and also helped sponsor the June 2007 Symposium on Integrity and Ethics in Dental Education coordinated by the American Dental Association.

 Ethics and Professionalism Award

The Ethics and Professionalism Award is the College's most recent national award. Consistent with the mission of the ACD, the Ethics and Professionalism Award recognizes exceptional contributions by individuals or organizations in the promotion of ethics or professionalism in dentistry. The 2011 recipient was the the International Dental Ethics and Law Society. This award is made possible through the generosity of The Jerome B. Miller Family Foundation. Nominations are by the Board of Regents, however any Fellow may submit names and supporting information to the Board for consideration.

 Interactive Dental Ethics Application

The newest project of the ACD is the Interactive Dental Ethics Application, also known as IDEA®. IDEA® will be the central ethics resource of the Ethics Resource Clearinghouse, which is a program element of the Professional Ethics Initiative (a professional collaboration to improve the ethical climate of dentistry). Dr. David W. Chambers is the primary author and Dr. Stephen A. Ralls is the developer. IDEA® was developed in response to the need for a comprehensive digital dental ethics resource that had both interactive and multimedia capability. It was designed from the beginning for Portable Document Format (PDF) to increase compatibility and portability. The PDF format offers several advantages for this application: a) portability; b) compatibility with computers; c) formatting maintained on printing; d) interactivity through scripting; and e) the reader is a free download (and is provided on new computers). An Internet connection is required to play the videos. From the beginning, the goal has been to provide IDEA® on a complimentary basis for dental students, practicing dentists, dental hygienists, educators, and others with an interest in dental ethics. IDEA® is not designed like a book to be used from front to back. Rather, it is more like a digital ethics cafeteria. The 90-page working prototype is finished and it has been demonstrated to the ADA Subcommittee on Ethics and Integrity in Dental Education and Licensure. Release is anticipated in late 2011. IDEA® will be distributed as a download from the Internet (www.dentalethics.org) and possibly on compact disc. There are currently eight sections, Overview, Fundamentals, Single Concept, Large Concept, Cases, Development, C.E. Courses, and Resources. Self-assessment activities, quizzes, and videos are included in some sections.

Leadership Projects

The American College of Dentists has a long and distinguished association with leaders and leadership. The ACD was founded by the leaders of dentistry in 1920, including the president, president-elect, and secretary of the American Dental Association (then called the National Dental Association) and president of the National Association of Dental Faculties (precursor of American Dental Education Association). The 23 founders are listed immediately below:

Founders
Henry L. Banzhaf	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
J.F. Biddle	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A.D. Black	Chicago, Illinois
John P. Buckley	Los Angeles, California
Harvey J. Burkhart	Rochester, New York
John V. Conzett	Dubuque, Iowa
H.D. Cross	Boston, Massachusetts
Julio Endelman	Los Angeles, California
H. Edmund Friesell	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
William A. Giffen	Detroit, Michigan
Clarence J. Grieves	Baltimore, Maryland
Thomas B. Hartzell	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Thomas P. Hinman	Atlanta, Georgia
Milus M.House	Indianapolis, Indiana
V.H. Jackson	New York, New York
C.N. Johnson	Chicago, Illinois
E.A. Johnson	Boston, Massachusetts
C. Edmund Kells	New Orleans, Louisiana
Otto U. King	Chicago, Illinois
Albert L. Midgley	Providence, Rhode Island
Frederick B. Noyes	Chicago, Illinois
Roscoe H. Volland	Iowa City, Iowa
C.E. Woodbury	Council Bluffs, Iowa

Candidates for Fellowship in the ACD are selected based on demonstrated leadership in some aspect of dentistry or community service, e.g., organized dentistry, research, education, journalism, etc. Leadership has been a common thread in ACD communications throughout its history. Some of the more recent leadership projects include:

 Leadership Symposia

The ACD has regularly developed or participated in various leadership symposia since its founding. For its leadership, work, and status in the area of ethics and professionalism the ACD has become known as the "conscience of dentistry."

 LeaderSkills Workshops

The ACD has produced LeaderSkills workshops as part of its Annual Meeting program since 1995. These programs typically provide continuing education credit.

 Leadership Workshops

The ACD holds a Leadership Workshop as part of its periodic Summer Conference program.

 ACD Leadership Program

The ACD Leadership Program is a keynote-level presentation on leadership or a related topic at the ADA Annual Session (or another major meeting venue). Continuing education credit is offered. This program is currently on hold.

 Outstanding Student Leader Award

The ACD's national Outstanding Student Leader Award has been given to senior dental students since 1997 and is based on leadership and scholarship.

 Distinguished Leadership Award

The ACD awards a national Distinguished Leadership Award. The Distinguished Leadership Award recognizes individuals having a record of significant and distinguished leadership in dentistry, public health, or national health policy while in a position of national or international responsibility.

 William John Gies Award

Named after William John Gies, who was instrumental in shaping the College and the entire dental profession, this award has been given since 1940 and is based in significant part on leadership. The award recognizes Fellows who have made truly unique and exceptional contributions to advancing the profession and its service to society. Leadership is an important consideration in the award.

 Dental Leadership (online)

Dental Leadership, a comprehensive online leadership resource for dentists, is now online at www.dentalleadership.org. The resource includes education, assessment, and library modules. Continuing education credit is available for courses in the education module. There are also self assessment leadership tools.

 Leadership Column

The Journal of the American College of Dentists regularly publishes articles on leadership and related subjects, and it has done so since 1934. This has included a periodic column devoted to leadership.

Other National Efforts

 Dental History

Dental History, our Multimedia Dental History Resource, is now available for download from www.dentalhistory.org. The resource is fairly large (25MB), utilizes external video files, and takes about 45 seconds to download with a high-speed Internet connection. A high-speed Internet connection is strongly recommended, and an Internet connection is needed to view the external videos. The resource was initially designed for dental students and formerly available only on CD. It has been slightly modified for online distribution.

 Journal of the American College of Dentists

The Journal of the American College of Dentists has been published since 1934. It is designed to identify and place before the Fellows, the profession, and other parties of interest those issues that affect dentistry and oral health.

 Awards

The College gives a number of national awards, including the William John Gies Award, Distinguished Leadership Award, Ethics and Professionalism Award, Honorary Fellowship, Outstanding Service Award, Award of Merit, ACD-AADE Prize for Dental Journalism, and more. Awards are typically annual.