From the 2025 Spring Journal of the Colorado Dental Association By Casey Rhines, D.D.S., CDA Editor Often when I travel abroad, I find myself looking at people’s teeth to evaluate the oral health of the country as a whole. When I was in Italy, someone asked our tour guide how people knew we were American. He rolled his eyes, shrugged …
Next Steps…
From the Spring 2025 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association By Kevin Patterson, D.D.S., M.D., CDA President It’s hard to believe that my 36-month journey with the CDA Executive Committee is coming to a close. Time seems to move faster with each passing year, making it feel even more challenging to accomplish all we set out to achieve. My involvement …
Spotlight on University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine Students
From the Spring 2025 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association By Casey Rhines, D.D.S., CDA Editor Some faculty go into teaching because they want to pass down their knowledge to the next generation. Equally, graduating dental students consistently note mentorship as something they consider while job hunting. Prospective students and alumni both want to know what current dental students are …
2025 Legislative Wins!
The 2025 state legislative session is over and CDA enjoyed two big successes in the passage of the Dental Practice Act Sunset legislation, SB 194, and the protection of Medicaid dental rates and benefits. The changes to these laws will go into effect later this summer. CDA was successful in passing a version of SB194 that reflected CDA members’ priorities …
Four Decades of Dentistry: Celebrating a Lasting Impact
From the Spring 2025 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association Four Decades of Dentistry: Celebrating a Lasting Impact Lonnie Johnson, D.D.S., Ph.D., retires after 40 years at the CU School of Dental Medicine By Laura Ramsey, CU School of Dental Medicine Communications and Content Manager In his interview for a junior faculty position at the University of Colorado School of …
What if?
By Molly Pereira, CDA Executive Director I frequently see social media posts questioning the relevance of organized dentistry today. “Joining an association? That’s something my great grandpa did. It feels outdated.” “With the internet and social media, I can find anything I need and connect with anyone I want. Why pay for something that’s already available?” “I keep reading that …
2025 Sunset Review of the Colorado Dental Practice Act
In Colorado, a process called a “Sunset Review” evaluates a profession’s practice act for readoption by the state legislature. This year, the Colorado Dental Practice Act, the laws that govern dentistry, is undergoing Sunset Review. This process is vitally important to the dental profession and only occurs every 10 years. This page will be updated throughout the 2025 Colorado legislative …
CDA Retains Medicaid Increases Plus More
We are excited to share great news on the state budget related to Medicaid dental funding. On March 26, the state legislature’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC) finalized their proposed budget plan for the next state fiscal year, in what’s known as the “Long Bill.” As you know, the Governor’s budget proposal had requested cuts to Medicaid dental rates. We are …
Advocating for Dentistry
2025 CDA Dentists at the Capitol Lobby Day On Feb. 28, 25 dentists and dental students joined CDA staff and contract lobbyists at the state Capitol for our annual Dentists at the Capitol Lobby Day. We were thrilled with the turnout of dentists, as well as the interactions with state legislators. Dentists connected with more than 30 state senators and …
Dental Sleep Medicine Continues to Grow
From the Winter 2025 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association, By Becky O’Guin, CDA Communications Director Dentistry’s role in sleep medicine continues to be defined as more dentists either add it to their existing practice or practice dental sleep medicine exclusively. Dental sleep medicine uses oral appliances to treat sleep-related breathing issues, including snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA …
