Jared Kaltwasser

More than 11,000 people are expected in San Antonio this week for The Texas Meeting, the Texas Dental Association’s annual event.

 will be at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center to bring readers the latest developments from the event, which runs Thursday through Saturday.

The meeting brings together professionals from all parts of the dental industry to network, learn about industry trends, and meet with vendors. Last year, more than 2,300 dentists came to the meeting, in addition to 1,500 hygienists and nearly 2,500 dental assistants.

The event also includes the Texas Dental Association’s House of Delegates meeting. The delegates will meet Thursday morning, Friday afternoon, and all day Saturday (if necessary) to vote on resolutions. 

 will be held Thursday beginning at 11 a.m. The reference committee meetings offer members of the public the opportunity to be heard on various issues.

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Thousands of dentists and other industry professionals are in San Antonio for one of the industry's largest meetings.

Texas Meeting Kicking Off in San Antonio

Dentists from around the country are in Washington, DC this week, speaking with lawmakers and ensuring the industry’s voice is being heard in the corridors of power.

The American Dental Association’s 2016 Washington Leadership Conference wraps up today. The event’s keynote speaker was Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.

Among the issues discussed by the state dental delegations were a trio of bills the ADA has been watching closely.

The first, HR 4062, would repeal a rule that would require dentists to either enroll in or opt out of Medicare in order for their patients’ prescriptions to be covered by Medicare Part D. That mandate is schedule to go into effect in February unless Congress acts to stop it.

According to the ADA, the mandate would force dentists to officially opt in or out of Medicare Part B, even if they don’t receive reimbursements from the program. Neither option is good, according to a February letter from the ADA and other members of a coalition urging the repeal of the mandate.

“By enrolling, dentists agree to the rules, regulations, and guidelines of Medicare and must open their practices up to the government for audits, while not taking reimbursements from the program. On the other hand, dentists who elect to opt out of Medicare forfeit their ability to participate in Medicare Advantage plans,” the coalition wrote.

“In short, under the current CMS rule, there are no good options for dentists and their patients.”

The ADA notes that if a majority of providers opt out, seniors could have difficulty accessing dental care. That’s likely the reason HR 4062’s official name is the “Protecting Seniors’ Access to Care Act.”

Next on the ADA’s policy agenda is HR 3323. This bill would prohibit dental and vision insurers from adding “non-covered services” clauses to their coverage agreements. The clauses give insurers control over the rates doctors charge even for services the insurers don’t cover. Such clauses are already limited by regulations in 39 states. This bill would apply only to plans regulated by the federal government.

The bill also contains a number of smaller provisions, such as limiting network contract lengths to two years and giving dentists the ability to use whichever lab they want.

Finally, the ADA is pushing passage of HR 649, the “Student Loan Refinancing Act.” The bill would allow individuals to refinance their student loans more than once. The post-refinancing interest rates would then be fixed for the life of the loan (unless the borrower chooses to refinance again).

The matter is of particular importance for dentists. According to the ADA, the average graduating dental school senior in 2014 had student debt of $220,000. 

Dentists from around the country are in Washington, DC this week to urge support for key pieces of legislation affecting dentists.

Dentists Head to Washington to Lobby Congress

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These were the five most popular stories on Dentist's Money Digest last week.

The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending April 29

It’s no secret that the cost of living varies widely from state to state and city to city. The salary dentists earn can go a lot further in places with a low cost of living. Thus, a low cost of living makes it easier to build wealth over the long term.

Of course, that’s not the only factor that determines how quickly one is able to build wealth. The financial website 

 looked at a variety of factors when it created its recently released list of the best cities for building wealth. Among the metrics they used: After-tax savable income; the city’s job market; educational opportunities; access to financial services; and the local housing market. They also looked at retirement savings and 401(k) participation.

The resulting list has a number of surprises. It’s not full of the kinds of places one thinks of when they think of wealth, although it does have its share of ritzy, glamorous cities. Nor is the list overtaken by low cost-of-living cities, since some of those cities lack access to financial services and sufficiently robust job markets.

What follows are the nine best cities to build wealth, according to Bankrate. We’ve included their rankings for the city’s labor and housing markets (their full list uses other metrics, too). In addition to those stats, we’re adding the city’s median household income and median home value.

When it comes to your ability to grow and protect wealth, geography can play a much bigger role than you might think.

The 9 Best Cities to Grow Wealth

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These stories were our most popular last week.

The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending April 22

he governor of Florida has vetoed a bill that would have given publicly funded grants to dentists who chose to practice in under-served areas.

Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, said he feared the bill would open the door to grants for other highly paid professionals.

“While I agree with the bill sponsors that maintaining good oral health is integral to the overall health of Florida families, I cannot support a program that does not place appropriate safeguards on taxpayer investments,” Scott said, in his veto letter.

House Bill 139 had received unanimous approval in both houses of the Florida State Legislature and had the support of the Florida Dental Association.

The bill called for grants of between $10,000 and $100,000 for dentists locating in under-served areas. Dentists would have been free to use the money to pay off student loans or to help cover the cost of setting up or relocating their practice.

Scott, who has made job creation the focus of his tenure, also criticized the bill for not requiring dentists to create a certain amount of jobs or serve a certain amount of low-income patients each year.

He also said the law was duplicative since the state already helps provide dental care to low-income Floridians through Medicaid and community health clinics.

However, the bill may become law despite Scott’s veto.

State Rep. Edwin Narain, a Tampa Democrat, said on Twitter that he would welcome a special session to override Scott’s veto. The bill had been passed on the last day of the regular legislative session.

As much as I hate special sessions, I'd gladly go back to Tallahassee to override the veto of HB 139. 

It would take a two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature to override Scott’s veto.

A bill that would have paid dentists to work in under-served areas was vetoed despite unanimous support in the Florida Legislature.

Florida Governor Vetoes Grant Program for Dentists in Under-Served Regions

A new toothpaste ingredient has the potential to repair and reverse tooth decay while patients sleep, according to the British university that developed the ingredient.

BioMinF is designed to slowly release calcium, phosphate, and fluoride ions over 8-12 hours to form fluorapatites that rebuild and strengthen tooth structure, according to the researchers. The ingredient is being hailed as a “breakthrough” that could help drive down tooth decay rates among children and adults.

“Using remineralising toothpaste makes teeth far more resistant to attack from acidic soft drinks like fruit juices and sodas. It is also much more effective than conventional toothpastes where the active ingredients, such as soluble fluoride, are washed away and become ineffective less than two hours after brushing," said Robert Hill, chair of Dental Physical Sciences at Queen Mary, University of London, in a press release.

Hill led the team that developed BioMinF. He also founded a company, BioMin, to market the ingredient.

Richard Whatley, the company’s CEO, said he’s already working on licensing deals with the makers of toothpastes and other dental products, such as polishing pastes and varnishes. He said the company hopes to add investor stakeholders to help grow the company without the need for venture capital.

“Our aim is for the BioMin brand to become synonymous for the treatment of tooth sensitivity in the eyes of both the dental profession and the general public,” Whatley said, in the press release.

The company is also working on a fluoride-free version of its product. 

BioMin’s own line of toothpaste is already on sale in the United Kingdom. No date has been announced for US sales.

A toothpaste additive developed in Britain is being touted as a revolutionary tool in the fight against tooth decay.

'Breakthrough' Toothpaste Ingredient Promises to Rebuild Decaying Tooth

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Our weekly rundown of the Top 5 stories on Dentist's Money Digest over the past week.

The DMD Top 5 for the Week Ending April 8

A woman wanted in connection with the killing of a high-profile Dallas dentist is now on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list.

Brenda Delgado, 33, is suspected of hiring two co-conspirators to kill Dr. Kendra Hatcher. The homicide took place Sept. 2 in the parking garage of Hatcher’s apartment complex. Jason Ibrahim, a member of the FBI’s violent crimes task force in Dallas, said police believe jealousy led Delgado to order the killing.

“Apparently she was jealous because the victim was dating her ex-boyfriend,” Ibrahim said, in an FBI news release. 

There is now a $100,000 reward for information that leads to Delgado’s arrest.

Delgado, a Mexican national, is a former dental hygienist student.

The FBI says Delgado claimed to have connections to a Mexican drug cartel. She reportedly told the alleged gunman, Kristopher Love, that she could supply him with drugs, along with money and a car, in exchange for killing Hatcher. Love and an alleged getaway car driver were arrested last year.

remembered by her family members as being full of  compassion and determination

In a video produced by the FBI about the case (below), Hatcher’s mother, Bonnie Hatcher, describes her grief.

“She was just one amazing little gal, let me tell you,” Bonnie Hatcher said. “She’d give the shirt off her back to anybody.”

Delgado is believed to be in Mexico. Authorities hope the international attention generated by the case will help track down Delgado.

“Although she didn’t pull the trigger herself, she is still responsible for the murder,” said Thomas M. Class, Sr., the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Dallas Division. “And through international publicity and a significant reward offering, we intend to find her and to bring her to justice.”

Anyone with information about Delgado’s whereabouts is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or 

Brenda Delgado is wanted in the September 2015 murder of a Dallas pediatric dentist.

Fugitive Accused of Dentist's Murder Makes FBI's 'Most Wanted' List

With the federal income tax deadline just more than a week away, many of us are probably re-evaluating our charitable giving, or, in some cases, reaping the benefits of a last-minute donation in December.

The Network for Good, an online donation and peer fundraising platform for charities, found 31% of total charitable giving on their platform last year occurred in the month of December. In fact, 12% occurred on the final three days of the year.

The National Philanthropic Trust found Americans gave a total of $358.4 billion to charity last year, for an average of about $2,900 per family. The former number represented a 7% increase over 2013 and an all-time high. Corporate giving rose to $17.7 billion in 2014, a 13% increase from the previous year.

Many give for religious reasons or as part of a holiday gift-giving tradition. Of course, there are also tax benefits to giving, which is perhaps one reason why 98.4% of high-net-worth individuals gave to charity last year, according to NPT.

So which states give the most? The personal finance website 

 recently posed that question. They looked at a number of factors — including non-monetary giving like volunteering – in order to rank all 50 states. Other factors included the per capita number of charities in a state, the growth in charitable giving, and the average percentage of adjusted gross income donated.

What follows are the 10 states at the top of the list for 2015.

Minnesota scored well in a number of categories. It had the second-highest percentage of its population donating time to a charity. The state also scored relatively well when it comes to honesty about giving. The gap between those who claim in surveys to give to charity and those who actually report giving on their tax returns was 35%. That might seem large, but it actually puts Minnesota in the middle of the pack, according to WalletHub’s findings.

The Sooner state comes in ninth place on this year’s list, after failing to make the Top 10 last year. Oklahomans donated the fifth-highest percentage of their total income, according to WalletHub. The gap between those who say they give and those who actually give was 40%.

Washington State holds steady at eighth place on this year’s list. The state ranked 14

 in wealth when WalletHub looked at the richest and poorest states earlier this year. The gap between actual givers and self-reported givers in Washington was about 39%.

Georgia is another newcomer to the Top 10 this year. In fact the Peach State had the third-highest growth in charitable giving of any state from 2006 to 2012. The state also scored well despite being only the 32

Tennessee surged to No. 6 on WalletHub’s list this year. It had the fourth-highest percentage of income donated of any state and, like Georgia, reached the top of the giving list despite having a low overall wealth ranking (Tennessee was the 41

South Dakota actually dropped a bit from last year, when it was chosen as the second-most charitable state in the US. Still, the state has a strong track record of giving. The one black mark on its record relates to honesty. The gap between those who claim to give and those who actually gave was 52% in South Dakota, the second-highest total of any state.

Oregon rose from No. 9 in last year’s list to No. 4 this year. The state ranks near the middle in terms of overall wealth (27

) and has a low rate of false giving reports, with a gap of just 29% between those who claim to give and those who actually reported charitable donations.

Idaho stays at No. 3 once again this year. The state has the fourth-highest rate of volunteering and the second-highest growth in charitable giving between 2006 and 2012, according to WalletHub. All this despite being only the 45

Maryland is another big mover in this year’s list. It was No. 10 last year. The state had the fourth-highest percentage of people who said they donated money last year, and it also scores well in terms of the relationship between its wealth and its giving, ranking nearly as high (3

Last year’s winner, Utah once again wins the giving race in 2015, and by a significant margin. The state is at the top of a number of categories, including highest volunteer rate, highest percent of donated income, highest percent of people who have donated time, and highest percent of people who have donated to charity.

To read WalletHub’s full report and data set, 

A new survey uses a variety of metrics to determine which states have the most charitable residents. The results might surprise you.