ADA News (Newspaper) - August 7, 1978, Chicago, Illinois by dentists and subcommittee told overutilization of for diagnostic use alone is esti mated to cost the public billion a Paul Rogers commented at recent House health subcommittee hear ings on medical and dental diagnostic The chaired by Repre sentative conducted a week of hearings and indicated that regulatory legislation may be introduced Witnesses told the subcommittee that there is some health risk from doses of but they said experts disagree on the amount of Two ADA witnesses said are an indispensible diagnostic tool of dentistry and that the control of excessive radiation beyond the needs of the individual a major con cern of the dental The ADA representatives were Robert a radiology consultant to the ADA Council on Dental Materials and and John Council The use of for diagnostic purposes should be kept to a always justifiable on an individual basis in terms of a prudent balance between the expected yield of diagnostic information and the element of biologic risk en they said in prepared The ADA statement said should be used by dentists only after careful consideration of both the dental and the general health needs of the The deciding factor is the total welfare of the Although the hearings were billed as an inquiry into overexposure from medical and dental some witnesses tes on other aspects of manmade radi such as the amount and quality of training that health professions students receive in the use of Allan radiology professor at the University of Connecticut School of Dental blamed the alleged overexposure of patients to on the inadequate education of persons giv American Dental Association News August 1978 Nine state Medicaid fraud units get US funding state Medicaid fraud control units created under legisla tion enacted last October have been cer by the US Department of and Welfare for federal the administration has told These investigational units will receive federal reimbursement of 90 of their costs three years of The reimbursement section of PL 95 Gerald ADA president in dies of cancer Gerald Tim president of the ADA in 1962 died here July 22 of A graduate of Indiana University School of Timmons was an active participant in organized dentistry and dental His positions related to the ADA in cluded terms as Seventh District trustee in executive 1940 member and chairman of the Coun cil on Dental and the and Abuse was intended to encourage the creation of a central or distinct from the state Medicaid agency with the capacity to de and prosecute Medicaid It is primarily aimed at providers of Medicare and Medicaid The states with units are New New Col and Rhode Although HEW officials predicted that 35 states or jurisdictions would have such units by the end of the Frank Church said the certification pace was too Senator who is chairman of the Senate Special Committee on held a July 25 hearing on the role of the state fraud control This committee is greatly concerned that only nine states are now certified to take part in this he said in an opening While we understand that a large number of these may be certified in the near we are also concerned that federal share funding the 90 reim will expire on the first of Oc New Yorks special Charles whose investigations unit has been cited by Congress as a tes that his states application to HEW has languished there for three He blamed bureaucratic The federal share of loss from Medicaid fraud and abuse is estimated at mil PL 95142 strengthened the penalties for persons convicted of provider related violations in both Medicare and ing the This is the result of be nign neglect within our professional Reiskin He Although Xray diagnosis is considered to be an essential component of dental radiology has never been given the recognition accorded to other dental specialties and it rarely has a position of prominence in dental cur In commenting on this allegation in re sponse to questions from Chairman Ro the ADA witnesses said that training in dental in formal courses and supervised clinical an important and well emphasized part of dental education in all dental Knowledge in the field also is tested in the national and state board examina tions given to dentists and dental Continued on Page Eight Rule California hygienists cant practice alone Los California Board of Dental Examiners has ruled that dental hygienists in the state may not practice independently in their own and must perform their services under the supervision and control of a licensed The reaffirmation of the state dental law was made following the recent agreement with Linda in December opened her own office in the suite next door to Richard Steiner and Curtis She was treating only those dentists patients on a contractual basis Nov Nov 1977 ADA A formal complaint issued against Krol has been Krol signed a written agreement which expressly re quires that She treat only the patients of desig licensed dentists The names of each dentist whose pa she treats must appear on every entrance to the setting in which she performs her services Continued on Page Two Fluoride program achieved average 35 reduction in dental GERALD TIMMONS speaker of the House of 1956 before assuming the Associations He also served as president of the In Dental Society in A faculty member of the Indiana dental school for 15 years and dean of Temple University School of Dentistry from 1942 Continued on Page Eight and rinsing are an essential part of schooling for children in 17 areas of the Once a week during the school the children line up for a with a fluoride The improvement in dental ac cording to the National Institute of Dental Research is dramatic an average 35 re duction in tooth We now have a method of partial pre vention of caries that is costs very is easily and is readily accepted by the said James head of National Caries The million caries program was created in the early 1970s to develop safe and inexpensive preventive Its million winding up this winter after a has that kind of potential said For about 50 cents a student a fluoride mouth rinsing can save several billion dollars annually in dental he told reporters at a recent news He urged expansion of programs to every commu lacking fluoridated water and said 20 million school children could Preliminary results from the 17 test sites showed a reduction in tooth decay after two years of rinsing of up to 46 in Ar At the lower end of the scale Waushara and Calumet showed no reduction in and Charles City only Carlos said either statistical error or increased dental care in those side benefit from chil drens programs seen in many of the test account for the minimal reported reduction in tooth Some children participated vol in the tests under adult The project showed that fluoride programs in schools have the fol lowing the reported The procedures have been proved effective in reducing tooth They involve little The techniques are easy to Few materials and supplies are re making the projects personnel with minimal training can supervise the 0 The rinse can be administered easily with minimal interference with a schools academic As part of their the 17 areas agreed to develop continuation Continued on Page Seven
