Dr. William Ten Pas, president of the American Dental Association, testified before a House

Dr. William Ten Pas, president of the American Dental Association, testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee in February, urging Congress not to cut back programs that would hurt dentists and the delivery of dental care. He told the subcommittee that the downsizing in the federal government would adversely impact dental programs that receive federal dollars. Currently, the federal government picks up the tab for about 2.7 percent of all dental-care expenditures, but cutting it any more would "result in the loss of the critical mass necessary to ensure the proper delivery of dental services to the targeted populations." He also said the ADA is concerned about the potential replacement of dentists with nondentists in leadership positions in dental programs. "Our experience shows that only a dentist can fully appreciate the clinical peculiarities of the discipline and help address quality-of-care concerns faced by dental practitioners."

Judi Hasson

Washington Correspondent