Article Details

Catherine’s dental phobia was once so severe that dental advertisements or even passing a dental office could trigger a panic attack. Worse, her debilitating phobia kept her from seeing a dentist for over 10 years. Eventually, she developed a life-threatening oral infection and lived with it for over a year and a half. “I was in pain, but I was too scared to receive care,” said Catherine, a resident of Bakersfield, Calif.

Eligible employers as of July 1 can now register for CalSavers, the state’s new retirement savings program for private sector workers. Employers are eligible to participate in CalSavers — a Roth IRA (after tax) — if they have five or more employees and do not already offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Employers pay no fees for participating in CalSavers.

Employers often struggle to balance the need for expanded practice hours to accommodate patient schedules and the costs associated with nonexempt employee overtime. In California, employers have the option to greatly reduce overtime costs by adopting an alternative workweek schedule. What exactly is an alternative workweek schedule, and is it good news for employees and employers?

A California Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that created a stricter standard for determining who meets the definition of “employee” applies retroactively, the Ninth Circuit held in a May 2, 2019, ruling. The decision means the “ABC” test created last year by the California Supreme Court will be applied to cases going forward, as well as to disputes dating back to before the new test was enacted.

Beginning June 1, the National Supplier Clearinghouse began sending letters to Medicare-enrolled dentists notifying them that a surety bond of at least $50,000 per office location may be required to initiate or continue their Medicare enrollment as a supplier of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthodontics and supplies. Prior to 2019, dentists were exempt from this rule.

Get to know CDA’s July Student Spotlight, Gregory Pavlos from UCSF School of Dentistry class of 2022.

In 2010, Vanessa Franks, DDS, became the 11th recipient of the CDA Foundation’s Student Loan Repayment Grant — a flagship program that aims to offset some of the financial burden of student loan debt in exchange for a three-year commitment by recipients to care for the underserved. Describing herself as “a natural caretaker with a strong inherent motivation to enrich the lives of others,” Dr. Franks said a career in public health had been a longtime goal.

Take two of these and call me in the morning. That may have been sage advice a generation ago, but today, dispensing medication requires much more scrutiny. Americans are taking more prescription drugs than ever before, meaning health professionals, including dentists, must use extra precaution when dispensing and prescribing routine medications as part of an overall treatment plan.

The Department of Health Care Service’s new program designed to expand access to care for Medi-Cal patients has awarded $10.5 million to 40 dentists to pay student loan debt. Approximately 1,300 health care providers, including 350 dentists, applied to the CalHealthCares program, which offers up to $300,000 in debt relief in exchange for meeting certain criteria.