It may not be an official, medically recognized condition, but there is little doubt that the American Dental Association is speaking with a forked tongue.

For example, a recent ADA News article about the association’s proposed overhaul of its dental anesthesia guidelines suffers from a severe case of half-truths, inaccuracies and obfuscations.

The risk is that many dentists won’t recognize just how wily some in the ADA can be.  To hear the ADA tell it, the newly proposed guidelines are really good for general dentists and others currently practicing oral conscious sedation as well as those who will want to administer OCS in the future.

DON’T BE FOOLED. 

Indeed, not only are the ADA’s proposals reckless and harmful to patients and the profession, but the very fact that some at the ADA are engaging in outright deception to try to quell angry dentists is proof positive of just how far off course the ADA has been driven by members of its Committee on Anesthesiology (Committee H) and its guardian, the Council on Dental Education and Licensure (CDEL).

Dr. Guy S. Shampaine, chairman of Committee H, his fellow Committee members (who permit him to disseminate junk logic and science), and CDEL take ADA members for fools. They are counting on members to accept spoon-fed distortions in order to push through a private agenda that only serves a small “club” of elite dentists.  Do not, under any circumstances, accept what the ADA (or TEAM 1500 for that matter) says without doing the homework yourself. 

We have prepared a point-by-point rebuttal (click here for full text) to the February 1, 2007 ADA News story, which both quotes Dr. Shampaine and reprints a supposedly factual “FAQ” authored by Dr. Shampaine. 

If you don’t have the time to read the entire rebuttal – which clearly lays out Dr. Shampaine’s disinformation campaign – at least note these examples to get the flavor of what YOUR ADA is doing to MISINFORM you!

Q.:   Will the proposed new guidelines eliminate the use of sedation and anesthesia in general dental practice?

Dr. Shampaine:  No.  The proposed guidelines make recommendations for the safe use of sedation and anesthesia and the appropriate levels of education for dentists to safely administer these modalities.

TEAM 1500:  Yes.  The new guidelines set the bar so high for general dentists to acquire the so-called “appropriate levels” of education that the vast majority of general dentists will effectively be prevented from administering these modalities.  The rules may not specifically exclude general dentists from Dr. Shampaine’s exclusive “club” of oral surgeons, dental anesthesiologists and specialists, but there is no mistaking the intended message:  “General dentists need not apply.”

A.     “What’s more, said Dr. Shampaine, the revisions actually allow dentists to do more than the existing guidelines.  The committee also included a ‘grandfather clause’ so that it would be clear that the ADA is not proposing new basic educational requirements for dentists who are currently appropriately and safely administering these services.

This is the first of many instances where Dr. Shampaine is telling ADA members, “believe what I’m telling you, not what we actually wrote in the proposed guidelines.”

True, Dr. Shampaine, the word “grandfather” is included the proposed guidelines, but not in the context you would have us believe.  The exact wording is:

“This should not exclude dentists who might be grandfathered by individual state dental boards prior to the adoption of this document.”

You fail to mention that dentists also “might not” be grandfathered by individual state dental boards.  You fail to explain what happens if qualified dentists aren’t grandfathered “prior to the adoption of this document.”  You fail to note that some states don’t regulate their dentists and thus can’t grandfather them into compliance.  And you don’t even begin to address the logic of why the ADA would be willing to create two classes of general dentists – ‘grandfathers’ and those who aren’t ‘grandfathers.’  Is that your way of saying to today’s dentists, “we won’t harm you, but we will harm all the dentists who come after you?”

Q.:  Is it true that the proposed guidelines require the dentist to remain in the room with the sedated patient until that patient meets criteria for discharge for post-sedation and anesthesia care?

Dr. Shampaine:  Yes.  The requirement has remained unchanged from the current guidelines and is the standard of care for all health care personnel who provide sedation and anesthesia.

TEAM 1500:  Wrong.  Page six, paragraph three of the existing guidelines only requires the dentist to be present “during administration” of oral conscious sedation, not the entire time prior to discharge.  The new proposals, page seven, paragraph four, require “a qualified dentist…must remain in the operatory room to monitor the patient continuously until the patient meets the criteria for recovery.”

To top this off, Dr. Shampaine’s new guidelines require this in-operatory monitoring during minimal sedation.  That means with 5 mg of Valium® given to a patient before the appointment a dentist can't leave the patient even for a minute!

Dr. Shampaine:  Provisions in state statutes or regulations that allow appropriately trained individuals (other than dentists) currently authorized to monitor patients under sedation would continue.

TEAM 1500:  Again, Dr. Shampaine is telling us, “Listen to what I say, not what we wrote.”  The written proposals say no such thing.  

-- DEAN ROTBART

 

Point-by-Point Rebuttal to ADA News Article

Orginial ADA News Article