The American Dental Association will shortly publish the final draft of its proposed guidelines governing oral conscious sedation (OCS).  From all indications, the ADA’s Council on Dental Education and Licensure (CDEL), which met to discuss the matter in late April, has approved new anesthesia guidelines that are so abhorrent they very well could result in millions of current and future dental patients facing the choice of doing without OCS or doing without dental treatment altogether.

That’s a choice no patient should have to make, given the phenomenal safety and effectiveness track record that OCS has demonstrated.  More than one million adult patients have received oral conscious sedation with no known injuries or deaths.

Not long ago, we called upon all concerned dental professionals to write the ADA in protest and more than 1,000 of you and your patients did.  Indeed, the ADA itself recently acknowledged the “well-organized opposition” to its proposals. 

But words alone won’t stop the ADA or save oral conscious sedation. 

For every dollar we have at our disposal, we estimate that the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) and their allies are funneling seven dollars into the campaign to shut down OCS among the ranks of general dentists.  Moreover, AAOMS and the ADA are putting the full force of their staffs and enormous infrastructure behind their efforts.

To remain viable, we need concerned dentists such as you to help fund our cause.  Contributing to TEAM 1500 is the only way to bring the ADA and CDEL to their senses, since our letters alone have not yet convinced them of the foolishness of their proposals.

Although we are outnumbered and out-financed, we do have one powerful weapon going for us:  We are on the right side of the issue.

Our efforts going forward will be threefold:

1. Continue to exert pressure on the ADA to relent in the face of strong opposition from members, patients and the media.

2. Lobby the 450-plus members of the ADA’s House of Delegates – who will vote on the final proposals in September  -- to defeat CDEL’s agenda.  (While CDEL is dominated by oral surgeons and other specialists, the House of Delegates is a far more representative body.)

3. Work closely with the dental boards in every state to discourage them from adopting the ADA proposals as regulations.

We know how hard you work and how many demands there are on your resources.  That is all the more reason that you shouldn’t let the oral surgeons and others on CDEL rob you and your patients of the right to use oral conscious sedation.

Please take a moment right now to make a meaningful financial contribution to our efforts.  We are asking all dentists who use OCS to contribute $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000 according to their means and the importance of OCS to their patients.  (Payments can be made all at once or in three or six monthly installments.)

Pledge Form

But even if you can only contribute $250, it will help us continue the fight and demonstrate convincingly to the ADA, CDEL, AAOMS and their cronies that we will not be intimidated by their poorly disguised turf grab.

You and your patients have every right to enjoy the benefits of OCS.  Don’t forfeit them by your inaction.