| PCDS Members please contact Cindy@pcdentists.org for a link to the members only information until the updated page is available. |
Welcome to Pierce County Dental Society!Pierce County Dental Society is a component society for current members of the American Dental Association and Washington State Dental Association. . June President's Message - Dr. Guillermo ChaconDear members, I cannot believe we are starting another year at the Pierce County Dental Society. It seems like the past 2+ years in the pandemic have simultaneously flown by and dragged on. Hopefully we are finally coming out on the other side – at least with a virus we can manage with vaccines and knowledge (or so we hope!). I would like to personally thank Dr. Karl Smith for all his leadership as our President during this past challenging year. He navigated our society through some trying times and we finished stronger and better organized than anyone thought possible. I would also like to thank all the PCDS board members who have served and those joining the team this year – Drs. Thomas Gessel, Julie Fuller, and Jed de la Paz. This is done out of a love for our profession, and we are lucky to have each of these members serving on our board. Lastly, I want to send a big thank you to Cindy Stephen who really runs this show – she has done a wonderful job taking over and making this position her own. Thank you to all of you for helping make the PCDS a fun and relevant organization. I graduated from my Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency at the University of Washington 22(!) years ago and went into full-time academics at The Ohio State University. I moved back to Washington 13 years ago to pursue private practice in our area. I feel so fortunate to have had experience in both areas of dentistry (academics and private practice). But most of all, I feel so fortunate to practice in our community. I love my patients and the patient population. They are diverse and come from all walks of life. They teach me things about life and experiences every day. I am also extremely thankful to all our referring colleagues. Without you, what we do every day would not be possible. After serving as a board member, I suddenly find myself in this new position as President of our dental society. I hope to bring my life perspective – as an immigrant, a husband, a father – combined with my work experience – as a Chairman of an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery program in a large academic setting and a business owner in private practice - to bring a unique perspective to our Society. I only want to further our important profession in our community. It’s an exciting time for dentistry in the State of Washington. The new dental school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima has hired a Dean and will start admitting students in the Fall of 2025. The entirety of Eastern Washington — except for part of Grant County — is considered a dental care shortage area. This dental school will help alleviate this problem, by training qualified health care professionals to serve rural and underserved areas. We are also getting help for our dental hygienist shortage in the state. The dental hygiene training program at Shoreline Community College is expanding significantly, thanks to a new partnership between them and the UW School of Dentistry. We have lots of exciting things coming up – from planned in person general membership meetings, to A Day for Smiles and this year's Pierce County Dental Society and UW Dental Alumni Golf Day. The latter will be held on Friday, September 9, 2022 at the Tacoma Country & Golf Club. Save the Date! To close, I would like to leave you with a simple saying that sits on my desk. My wife purchased it a long time ago for me and it holds true not just for surgery, but dentistry, this society, and life. It says, “Measure Twice, Cut Once.” For many decisions in life, you get one chance to “cut” so making sure your “measurements” are accurate or where you want them to be is of the utmost importance. It will be an exciting and productive year! I am honored to serve as your President! Guillermo E. Chacon Save the Date for the PCDS and UW Dental Alumni Golf Day!
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We are dedicated to furthering education, mutual support and better communication with the general public for the purpose of their better dental health. The Society has a Central Office to provide information on current dental issues, act as a liaison to the outside community, and serve as a support to its member dentists. Our goal is to provide this website as a resource for dentists, patients, and the community. If there is information that you feel would be helpful to other patients or dentists, please email your suggestions to cindy@pcdentists.org.
 Patient ResourcesWe provide free referrals to our Pierce County dentists for those patients who are looking for a new dental home, and we also have a download-able list of multi-lingual dental offices located in Pierce County |
The Society has a Central Office to provide information on current dental issues, act as a liaison to the outside community, and serve as a support to its member dentists. We have one full-time staff person. The Central Office provides no-cost referral and mediation services for the public. Mediation is done for member dentists only.
The Pierce County Dental Society is proud to honor the many dentists who have participated in volunteer activities over the years. Together dentists in Pierce County donated $1,000,000 in care to low-income individuals in dental need, and participated in several oral health educational activities throughout the County.
Visit MouthHealthy.org, the website created by the American Dental Association (ADA) for you and your family!
Please Donate!100% Of the proceeds stay in Pierce County to help those in dental need.  Support Pierce County Dental Foundation. |
 All proceeds for the “A Day for Smiles” goes to the Pierce County Dental Foundation Endowment fund. The fund has a goal of $1,000,000. Once the fund reaches $500,000 it will start disbursing the proceeds for oral health care for those in need, oral health education, and to support education for dental professionals. Currently the fund has over $380,000 in donations. The Foundation has supported several community events to support improved oral health such as: Pierce County Dentists Care Program, Bates Free Dental Day, Tacoma Rescue Mission Free Dental Day, Pierce County Veteran’s Resource Fair, Pierce County Dental Society Children’s Dental Health Day, and oral hygiene supplies for schools in Pierce County. 
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