| 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. Click on this link for information and resources from the ADA on COVID 19. October President's Message - Dr. Sonia PalDear Members, Fall is definitely in the air. It is my favorite season but this year is different. All of the activities I look forward to attending are canceled or modified so much that all the fun is gone. So, I try to focus on the positives this new routine has brought about. Kids learning at home bring about challenges. I try to focus on the extra time we get to spend with them. There seems to be less rushing around and being able to get to those things that always seemed to get pushed to the side. There’s a saying we miss things in our own backyards and maybe this time will allow us to explore more of the wonderful area we live in. I know I have gone to National and State parks I likely would not have gone to pre covid. This experience has pushed me further to look inside for happiness instead of outside. Our academic year started out with our first ever virtual meeting on Wednesday, September 23. It was a joint effort with Snohomish County Dental Society. It was a great success. We had about 200 members join in from both Societies and received positive feedback about our chosen speaker, one of our own. We had the opportunity to show off how strong and cohesive we are with our impressive speaker line up and organization. The speaker schedule is mostly what we had already planned. Now that we have one meeting under our belt, I look forward to our second meeting WEDNESDAY, October 21st at 6pm. We will invite other smaller Societies to join in for CE credit, build goodwill, reach out and help our colleagues in other parts of the State. I am excited to reach out and help where we can. Fall also brings our Washington State Dental Association House of Delegates. It is where delegates from all over the State who represents the local Societies discuss and vote on issues that impact our profession on the State Level. This year’s meeting was obviously digital and went very smoothly. The biggest 2 issues that you may have already heard about are the potential settlement agreement reached between WSDA and Washington Dental Service in our lawsuit and the one time $300 dues assessment for 2021 to fund the hopeful closure of our legal battle with WDS. The settlement is only partially finished. It needs to be adopted by our membership in a vote on Friday November 13th by a two thirds majority. I encourage all to read the memorandum of understanding on the WSDA website to understand the changes. Even though it may feel different, it is a win for member dentists in Washington. It gives us our voice back and a seat at the table to make sure things like what happened don’t happen again. It is a strategic or long-term win as opposed to a tactical short-term change. The news of a potential settlement is welcome. Litigation is very stressful and time consuming and expensive. I hope come November 13th with a positive vote, we can put this behind us and move forward with other business to support our membership. Covid has affected the financial status of our State organization such that it made the $300 one-time assessment necessary to finish this chapter. Please reach out with any questions, continue to utilize the resources that are out there for PPE and financial support and know we will overcome this. See you on WEDNESDAY October 21st. Please register and encourage your colleagues to register. With the elimination of travel, I’d like to have more participation at our general membership meetings. Dr. Sherwin Shinn PieceSEEING BEYOND THE MASK Imagine the unprecedented magnitude of immense power required to shut down the collective social order of the entire planet, everywhere, seemingly over night!! It happened, and then quarantine, lockdown, stay-at-home, contactless social distancing began… All the day-to-day activities of our lives that we took for granted, and were routine, have disappeared, Now it’s stay at home…no more going to parties, church, school concerts, gym, restaurants, shopping sprees, sporting events etc. not even going to work. There’s not a lot of common ground left anymore. It’s hard to know what to expect next! There seems to be unprecedented challenges now in just doing what used to be ordinary living! Everyone has their own idea of what’s happening, why, and what to do about it. The fear of the unknown, and all these differing opinions make us hang on even tighter to, and assert even stronger, our most personal and fundamental tenets of belief about Life. It almost gives us a desperate feeling to cling to our own point of view as a matter of personal survival because it’s all we have left. The information about a person’s character and friendliness we used to get from greeting them with a traditional handshake is now taboo. Our faces are covered now, so we can’t see facial expressions anymore, making it even more difficult to tell what the other person is feeling that we’re talking to. Are they smiling or frowning? Is there a look of delight, distrust, disagreement, or downright dismay on their face about our conversation? All we have now is eye contact, which is so powerful and intimate that everyone averts their gaze, hoping to avoid an awkward communication with someone they don’t quite see eye-to-eye with. The only place in public where people can take their mask off now, is at the dentist! We’re the chosen few, outside their homes, that get to see who they really are. It’s a comfortable relief for them to share in this way. Therein lies the common ground that let’s us see Life beyond the mask. Dealing with all these unbelievable changes, and having to adopt and adapt to the upheaval of a completely different lifestyle causes stress. A lot of it! We’re all caught up in the same thing but reacting to it in differing individual ways. But we’re all freaking out a bit on the inside, fearful and questioning, shocked, hurting and wondering how best to handle it. Looking beyond the mask with recognition, acknowledgement, and empathy for the discomfort, distress, disorientation and angst of the other person makes it feel better for all of us thru comfort and unconditional understanding. Saying silently to each person we see, “ I feel your pain sister/brother, we’re all in this together, we’re going to make it.” “The interconnectedness and bond of all of us through the sacred principle of Life is fundamental to our existence.” See that on the other side of the mask. A Message from Pierce County Dental Foundation - Dr. Richard CoynerA message from your Pierce County Dental Foundation: We all appreciate the enormous impact Covid-19 has laid on our lives and practices. We are stressed and working harder than ever. However, those less fortunate still need our help. The PCDF would like to keep the spirit of our wonderful annual event, “A Day for Smiles”, alive this year. Your generous efforts have raised nearly $300,000 toward our goal of one million. This will perpetually sustain your foundation for the future, We are after participating offices and not necessarily large donations. Any amount, however small, will be welcomed. A list of participants will be in our media for this event. Stay Healthy, The PCDF Board Dr. Rich Coyner, Debra Lewandowski, Dr. Al Bird, Dr. Jurgen Huck, Dr. Theodore Baer, Dr. Sylvia La Rosa, Dr. Lisa Buttaro, Dr. Robert Chen, Dr. Ross Drangsholt, Monica Hospenthal, RDH, MS, MEd, Dr. Michael Giesy, Cheryl Jenkins, Dr, Roy Kaldestad Pat Moore, Dr. Sonia Pal, Dr. Sherwin Shinn, Dr. Robert White ATTN*** Pierce County Dental Foundation will hold it's annual "A Day for Smiles" the week of November 1-7, 2020. Please give thanks in November by making a donation to the Pierce County Dental Foundation Endowment Fund. November is "Gratitude Month". To make a donation email Cheryl Jenkins at: pcds@pcdentists.org. |
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 pcds@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 and two part-time staff persons. 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 $233,000 in donations. In 2019 the Foundation 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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