Welcome to the Iowa Dental Association
The Iowa Dental Association (IDA) is the premier professional association representing dentists in the state of Iowa. In existence since 1863, the IDA is home to over 1,800 Iowa dentists, which represents approximately 80% of the licensed dentists in the state.
All IDA member dentists are not only members of the IDA, but also the American Dental Association (ADA) and their local district society.
IDA’s mission is to encourage the improvement of the health of the public, to promote the art and science of dentistry, and to represent the interests of the members of the dental profession and the public which it serves.
ADA House of Delegates Update
The ADA House of Delegates convened in Houston recently.
Iowa’s delegates included IDA President, Dr. John Arend (Independence), IDA President-Elect, Dr. Jim Larsen (Davenport), IDA Vice President, Dr. Chris Bogue (Carroll), Dr. Brian Kim (Davenport), and Dr. Sara Stuefen (Vinton). Iowa’s alternate delegates included Dr. Carolyn Larsen (Davenport) and UI COD Dean, Dr. Clark Stanford (Iowa City).
The most talked about resolution was a bylaws change related to the creation and funding of the Strategic Forecasting Committee (SFC), a new committee of the House of Delegates. The committee will be tasked with conducting an ongoing strategic plan review for the ADA. The SFC will establish four subcommittees focusing on different categories of customers within the ADA (dentist, tripartite, enterprise, and professional/public). These subcommittees will have representation from different geographic regions. The SFC is intended to create a more focused and nimble association that can more easily respond to marketplace changes when compared to a House which only meets once a year.
The bylaws change directs the House of Delegates to establish the strategic direction of the ADA and the Board of Trustees will adopt the budget based on this direction. Previously, the annual budget had to be approved by the House.
Dr. Stuefen provided comments during the House on a resolution to establish an electronic archiving system for state and component publications. She spoke against the measure, as the 10th district caucus felt there were already mechanisms in place to search for articles from these publications, and funds would be better spent on membership recruitment and other initiatives. Despite Dr. Stuefen’s compelling testimony the resolution nearly passed.
Iowa is part of the 10th district caucus along with Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Iowa was responsible for hosting this year’s caucus in Houston. Dr. Sara Stuefen served as caucus chair, where she led two caucus meetings. The Iowa delegation would like to give special thanks to both Dr. Stuefen for her exemplary leadership and IDA Assistant Director, Kara Bylund, for her outstanding planning of the meeting. Working together, both Dr. Stuefen and Kara set the bar high for future meetings!
The Iowa delegates are ever appreciative of the opportunity to represent Iowa dentists on a national level.
Published October 25, 2022