A message from:
DAA’S 85th National President – Angela M. Swatts, CDA, EFDA opens the door to new beginnings.

 allow me to introduce myself.... my name is Angela Swatts and I am the new president of the American Dental Assistants Association having been installed just last month at our annual convention in Honolulu, Hawaii.

 

Many of you know me already, and if you do, you probably call me Angie.  For those of you who I have not had the chance to meet, I look forward to doing so. I have been a Certified Dental Assistant in many capacities over the past 25 years, including chair side assisting, office management, educator and dental laboratory manager.  I have been a proud member of the ADAA for over 20 years.

As I recently mentioned in the Journal of the American Dental Assistants Association, the ADAA must be proactive as we reach out to connect with all dental assistants.  With the proliferation of e-mail, texting, the internet including social networking sites, communication channels are shifting to an almost exclusive electronic format. 

 

The ADAA must keep pace if we hope to communicate with all dental assistants.  I, like many of you, still enjoy attending my local, state and national meetings for education, networking and just plain fun. However, I suspect a large number of dental assistants may prefer to do things differently.  We want to connect with all dental assistants, no matter how they choose to interact.  

 

One such way we are doing so is with our new electronic newsletter ADAA Online 24/7. This newsletter provides a way for the ADAA to deliver weekly updates about the dental assisting profession, dental health related articles, and in general, anything and everything related to our profession of dental assisting.  We want to make the 24/7 E-newsletter one you will look forward to receiving; a newsletter for and about dental assistants!  We welcome your feedback as we seek to provide information you value.  You will find a link in this week's newsletter to a short 5-minute or less survey on the 24/7 e-newsletter. Please let us hear from you so we know we are meeting your needs.

 

Beyond the 24/7 Newsletter we are present on Facebook and Twitter. Check us out at www.dentalassistant.org.

 

We, at ADAA, are changing and expanding to meet the needs of our members and nonmembers in every possible way.  We want to help you as professionals meet the needs of your patients, the dentist and all dental consumers.  We want to provide you with education you find relevant and information you find interesting.

 

We are facing changes every day in our profession, such as; new classifications of dental assistants, fierce legislative issues regarding dental assisting duties, and the fast–paced and ever changing development of products and equipment.  As a dental assistant, you can’t expect to face these changes on your own, but with your participation, ADAA can help you through it.

 

As ADAA’s President, I am committed to you, the dental assistant.  I will lead the ADAA and the dental assisting profession on this journey of change.  We will meet the needs of the new generation of dental assistants all the while; and continue to meet the needs of our traditional members. 

Join me on this journey of change...contact me at AngelaSwattsPresident@dentalassistant.org