Episode 13: The Drill - September 2025

SUMMARY: In this episode, host Ryan Dunn provides updates on workgroup discussions regarding licensure by endorsement and the activities of foreign-trained dentists. He also highlights upcoming events like the VDA/VCU Career Fair and the Virginia Dental Showcase.

HOST: Ryan Dunn is the CEO of the Virginia Dental Association. Ryan has played major roles with four national and statewide Associations while also spending time working on Capitol Hill. When he’s not talking all things dental, he’s talking about his family and baseball–and sometimes both at the same time.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

VDA/VCU Career Fair

Episode 12 – SMART MARKETING FOR MODERN DENTAL PRACTICES

Virginia Dental Showcase

EPISODE CREDITS

Producer: Paul Logan

Host: Ryan Dunn

Post-Production/Editor: Shannon Jacobs

Subscribe, share, and send your feedback and topic ideas to thefulcrumpodcast@vadental.org.

The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only, and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional, medical, or legal advice.

Music in this episode from Epidemic Sound

Transcript

[00:00:07] Ryan Dunn: Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Drill. I am Ryan Dunn, CEO at the Virginia Dental Association, and we are proud to bring you The Drill, which is our opportunity to drill down and give you a nice, concise place to go to find out all of the activities of which the Virginia Dental Association is focused on.

[00:00:30] Ryan Dunn: And we are focused on three areas: powerful advocacy, practice success, and professional development, directly from our strategic plan here at the VDA. With that, we wanna make sure that you know The Drill, and we're gonna start off with powerful advocacy and what the VDA has been up to there.

[00:00:48] Ryan Dunn: This is really one of the core functions of what we do. We have a lobbying team full-time, both in-house and on the contract side of things. We are constantly monitoring regulatory legislative activity, and we are the voice of dentistry. I always say that, you know, there's a lot of times where things are comfortable and people are feeling good about the profession. And honestly, that is because we are on the front lines every day, making sure that the policies and honestly, government is out of your business as much as possible. Even though we know that, uh, we have to coexist. So, with that, know that we are hard at work, making sure that nothing gets by us. And we are heavily involved in making things better for your practice, but also defending against things that, uh, could make it a whole lot worse.

[00:01:46] Ryan Dunn: So in powerful advocacy, one of the big things that happened this past month in August was a work group was put together that came from legislation passed by Senator Todd Pillion in this last General Assembly that asked the Board of Dentistry to basically run a meeting with the VDA, the Dental Hygiene Association and the Board of Dentistry members. To review and look at the licensure by endorsement issue, and also to look at foreign-trained dentists practicing dental hygiene. So, from that work group they discussed the licensure by endorsement idea. Looking specifically in the code where there is a five outta the last six years being an active practice requirement in Virginia. Looking at whether that should be amended to two out of five years. And how that impacts and is impacted by our joining the Licensure Compact. So, with that they've gone and looked at other professions and the Board of Medicine has changed their endorsement licensure by endorsement requirement to have two out of the, out of the last five years for being able to get a license. And currently in Virginia, we are still in the five out of six years active practice. There's a lot of conversation about you know how that impacts dentists to leave the profession, to start a family or to take care of a sick child or parent, or whatever the circumstance may be. And there's some thought in maybe we need to. Update that add some parameters to that. So, there was no formal recommendation that came from the work group regarding this. However, I do expect to see this discussed again in the general assembly. There was a lot of discussion about it and there’s, some better understanding as the licensure compact that we're now a part of, um, starts to take hold and they set up some of the parameters.

[00:03:55] Ryan Dunn: There was also a lot of discussion on foreign-trained dentists being licensed as dental hygienists. The Virginia Dental Association actually has a policy to support foreign-trained dentists to have a path to be allowed to practice as a dental hygienist. This was expressed in the work group, and our position was that there is a real workforce shortage, and something needs to be done now to address that. While we certainly support and understand we need increased funding for faculty at dental hygiene programs, we need more slots for interested people to be in the hygiene programs across the Commonwealth.

[00:04:34] Ryan Dunn: We continue to advocate for all of that, but this is another thing that can be done. And this one actually can be done relatively quickly compared to those other solutions that take lots of time and multiple years to stand up either new programs or additional slots or finding funding in a budget.

[00:04:53] Ryan Dunn: And so, we have been advocating for this. We obviously pointed out to them that, we know that there needs to be a criteria to be sure they are receiving the proper training, requirements, refresher courses, exam passage, proof of education, all of those requirements that the Board of Dentistry would set. And we, we certainly support needing those things as well but where we really have expressed a concern is that the only avenue that they could be licensed would be to go through a CODA- accredited program. That really gets us nowhere and takes slots away from others in traditional dental hygiene programs that we really can't afford to use. So, if we're really talking about a workforce solution and taking an already experienced and qualified group of people to then add some additional skills, training, and exams to prove that the work can be done. Then we should be looking at some very creative ways to allow foreign-trained dentists to be licensed as dental hygienists. So, the work group did not come away with a recommendation. But, uh, again, this is one of those items that I'm sure you will continue to see in upcoming, sessions of the general assembly. And so, stay tuned on that as we continue to monitor that situation and that topic as well.

[00:06:25] Ryan Dunn: Our second area of focus in The Drill is practice success. Are you looking to expand your team or fill open positions with qualified, motivated talent? If so. You need to pay attention 'cause the VDA and VCU Career Fair is going to be on October 20th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the VCU School of Dentistry in the Crockett Lounge.

[00:06:49] Ryan Dunn: This is your opportunity to connect with some eager students, D3 and D4 dental students. Residents, hygiene students. This is going to be one of our premier events. It is always a huge success. If you are an employer, you can go on our website and register now. If you're a job seeker or a student, you also can go on the VDA website and get registered as well. So don't miss this opportunity to have a table at the event. Uh, also to get some premium job, flash package ads on our VDA Career Center. And we'll also get you a free parking spot when you're coming to the career fair. So, know how important that is when you go downtown. So, at the VDA/VCU Career Fair, coming up October 20th, again at the VCU School of Dentistry, so don't miss that opportunity.

[00:07:45] Ryan Dunn: Uh, we also wanted to let you know in practice success that there is a new episode, episode 12 of The Fulcrum Podcast going on right now. In that episode, Karen Wood from VDA Member Perks on our VDA team is talking about ways for dental practices to boost their marketing without straining their teams. Featuring experts, Keith Washington and Shannon Perry from ProSites they cover the evolution of dental marketing, the importance of branding and effective tracking of marketing sites. So, tune in there for some key points, best practices, and ways to help your practice succeed.

[00:08:30] Ryan Dunn: And our third area of focus on The Drill is professional development. Your opportunity for professional development in the month of September, coming up very shortly, September 26th through the 27th at the Hilton, Norfolk The Main is the Virginia Dental Showcase. We hope that you will take time to join us down in Norfolk. Whether you are it's gonna be going for CE credits to explore the exhibit hall or to reconnect with some colleagues. Uh, there's something for everyone. This year's event is gonna feature some real dynamic speakers. There's some unique hands-on workshops as well available, so make sure to go check those out. All of the latest dental products and countless opportunities to connect with your peers and industry leaders. Make sure you don't miss the largest dental conference in Virginia, again September 26th through the 27th for the Virginia Dental Showcase. You can register online today at vadental.org. We hope that you will be able to join us and look forward to seeing you there.

[00:09:37] Ryan Dunn: And with that, that concludes another episode of The Drill. Please continue to check for new episodes each month. Continue to like, subscribe and share our VDA podcast, The Fulcrum. But with that, we hope that this has been useful to you, making sure that you know The Drill.