Episode 16 - The Drill, NOVEMBER 2025

SUMMARY: This episode discusses key topics, including legislative efforts to address workforce shortages in the Commonwealth, initiatives to enhance practice success through VDA Member Perks, and professional development opportunities such as the rollout of Affiliate Memberships. Additionally, upcoming events, such as Dental Days at the Capitol and Town Hall meetings, are highlighted, emphasizing the importance of member participation.

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:

Dental Days at the Capitol 

VDA Text Alerts

VDA Town Hall Meetings

VDA Member Perks

The Fulcrum Podcast:

• Episode 14 – 20 YEARS OF GROWTH AND INNOVATION: THE EVOLUTION OF VIRGINIA’S MEDICAID DENTAL PROGRAM
• Episode 15 – SMART SUPPLY MANAGEMENT: UNLEASH THE POWER OF METHOD

Virginia Dental Showcase – September 18-19, 2026

Affiliate Membership

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

[00:00:10] Ryan Dunn: Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Drill. I'm Ryan Dunn, CEO, here at the Virginia Dental Association. And we are excited to continue to offer The Drill, a short summary of all the things going on at the Virginia Dental Association so that you can stay informed in a very short and concise manner, uh, something that you can share with your colleagues, but something that follows our strategic plan here at the Virginia Dental Association.

[00:00:40] Ryan Dunn: We have three major areas of focus: powerful advocacy, practice success, and professional development. And those are our priorities here at the VDA. Everything we do on a daily basis is to make sure we're moving those items forward. So that's the format that we follow here at The Drill. And with that, I'm gonna dive right into the first issue.

[00:01:06] Ryan Dunn: Our first focus area is powerful advocacy. This is one of the major backbones here at the Virginia Dental Association. We advance and protect dentistry here in the Commonwealth. Always thinking and looking out for what's in the best interest of the patients. Something that we know that has been impacting access to care all across the Commonwealth and really across the country has been a real struggle in workforce. Quite frankly, the Allied Dental professional workforce is just not enough. We are in need of many more hygienists and dental assistants. So, with that, uh, your leadership here at the Virginia Dental Association, your Board of Directors, your Council on Government Affairs. Many, many hands have been working tirelessly volunteering, uh, a number of hours outside of their daily work, uh, and the sacrifice is great by many. So, uh, just wanted everybody to know how much hard work goes into these things. Officially the VDA is gonna be putting forward some legislation this upcoming year to help try to alleviate some of the workforce issues that we know a lot of our members are facing.

[00:02:22] Ryan Dunn: Uh, really looking at a three-pronged approach at how we deal with the shortage of allied dental professionals here in the Commonwealth. First item of business, we're going to be looking to allow, uh, dental assistants to expand their duties through an earn while you learn model that maybe you're familiar with, uh, when it comes to nursing and other programs. So, we're very excited about that. We also are gonna be advocating to allow an expedited pathway for internationally educated dentists to provide dental hygiene services, in the Commonwealth. So, we know that there are a lot of people waiting on the sidelines patiently who are very qualified to be able to help deliver that care.

[00:03:03] Ryan Dunn: And then we are also gonna be advocating for additional funding. The Virginia Peninsula Community College in the Hampton area is looking to reopen and to actually expand. And so, we're gonna support them in their budget ask as well. But we're also gonna be asking for funding to open some additional hygiene programs all across the Commonwealth.

[00:03:27] Ryan Dunn: We know that this has been something that it has been growing since COVID and this issue is not something that's going away anytime soon. And honestly, some of these are very much long-term initiatives, but some of them are very much things that we can do now to help people in their offices bring that access to care. And we know that this really will impact the workforce here in Virginia. We are currently sitting with about a thousand positions in dental hygiene that could be filled right now in the Commonwealth. And when you graduate 135 across all of your private, public community college programs, you can see how we're not gonna get out of this without some creative thinking.

[00:04:14] Ryan Dunn: And we have a pretty robust ask this upcoming General Assembly. Will probably be met with some opposition, and we're gonna need everybody to take part, have a say. This is a very reasonable, well thought out approach, that again, your leadership at the Virginia Dental Association has put together. So, this is a call to action for our members to do what you've always done, which is show up at the General Assembly for our dental days, a lobby day at the General Assembly, January 15th and the 16th. With an evening reception on January 15th, and then on Friday morning there on January 16th, we will head over to the General Assembly and show everybody that dentists show up to lobby when the issues matter.

[00:05:02] Ryan Dunn: Also, sign up for our text program. You can text "VDA" to 844-326-6827. That's 8 4 4 -3 2 6- 6 8 2 7. Just text the word "VDA". We'll get you signed up for that. You can also sign up on the VDA website at vadental.org. But please join our action team as we are very much gearing up for this upcoming general assembly. There'll be more details shared, more opportunities to learn in depth, as we will be hosting a series of town halls coming up throughout November, December, and January. So please look on the website, look for your emails and check the VDA Digest, that comes to your, inbox for an opportunity there.

[00:05:50] Ryan Dunn: Again, please take the opportunity to get involved, share what is going on with your colleagues, and just remember the VDA is your voice, advocating for your future? But we need everybody to be involved.

[00:06:06] Ryan Dunn: Our second area of focus is practice success. The VDA works tirelessly to make sure that you have all the tools and opportunities, and nothing is standing in your way for your practice to be successful. Just as a friendly reminder, one of those great benefits that we offer our members is through our for-profit, which is called VDA Member Perks. Uh, this group has their own board. They have their own mission, but they're driven by finding, partnering, and bringing discounts and value to members.

[00:06:46] Ryan Dunn: By partnering with people who want to and do business with dental offices. So, whether it be a supply company or whether it be insurance, you name it, things that you need in your everyday practice, uh, we are bringing those to you with the opportunity to find savings. And at the same time, when you do that, it benefits the Virginia Dental Association. It benefits our ability to actively advocate for your future. And so, uh, we always are, are encouraging everyone to take a look at what is being offered.

[00:07:19] Ryan Dunn: We also offer our exciting podcast, The Fulcrum. I hope everyone has liked, followed, and subscribed to that. And if you haven't, please take a moment to do that. But we have two new episodes that recently came out. One is a partner of ours, Method procurement. They are talking about the evolution of dental supply, ordering, how to manage costs, remain efficient, and to automate some of the price check processing so you don't have to be worrying about searching all the time, to compare prices. So, some unique opportunity there on how you, can efficiently run your office and how you might be able to save some money.

[00:07:59] Ryan Dunn: We also have another episode of The Fulcrum that came out, where we talked with Dr. Zach Hairston and Mr. Justin Gist about Virginia's Medicaid dental program. How it has changed quite a bit. But 20 years it has been around initially starting and focusing on pediatric care. Then it later added, pregnant members and now it's a comprehensive adult dental benefit. So, the VDA continues to work very closely with DMAS and the folks there at, the Medicaid program to continue to bring value, talk about some of the problems and things that, that your practice and providers face inside of the program. And I have to say, uh, they've been very receptive and we, we enjoy working with both of them. So please go give that a follow and a listen.

[00:08:52] Ryan Dunn: And our third and final area of focus at the VDA is professional development. There are a lot of opportunities that we offer for our members to continue their professional development. One of those we just wrapped up in Norfolk was the Virginia Dental Showcase. Hopefully you took advantage of the amazing CE lineup that was available there to those in person. And if you missed it, don't worry, there will be another one coming up in September, and we will be going to The Homestead, September 17th through the 19th of 2026. Wanted to go ahead and make sure people get that on their calendar, September 17th. 18th and 19th at the homestead. This will be your opportunity to take some, uh, amazing CE and network with your peers.

[00:09:38] Ryan Dunn: Another thing happening in 2026 is our affiliate membership will be rolled out. So, if you, as a dentist, have renewed your membership and are in good standing with the VDA, you automatically have affiliate members now inside of your office, meaning the front office manager and the dental insurance coordinator can become affiliate members through your membership with the VDA. They will get access to unique training and CE. They'll also have, uh, unique opportunities to save your office money through our VDA Member Perks program, with free consultations and things there to help as well. So, we're excited about that. And it is very much related to our, uh, Virginia Dental Academy where the Certified Dental Office Professionals (CDOP), we just had the 2024-2025 cohort finished and were recognized in Norfolk. That program's gonna look a little different, but it'll be rolled into the affiliate membership, bringing more opportunities to a broader base of, uh, front office managers. That can take advantage of the offerings that we'll have for continuing education and learning, and maximizing your revenue and all of those things. So, we're very excited to be able to roll that out.

[00:10:54] Ryan Dunn: But as you can see, there is a lot going on at the Virginia Dental Association. It is, uh, never a dull moment, and there is, uh, always something happening to make your life better, make your practice more successful, and to protect the profession with all we have.

[00:11:11] Ryan Dunn: So, with that, thank you for your time. Please follow and share The Fulcrum podcast. And just remember, we do this here at the VDA so that you know The Drill.