b"B Y D R . D A V I D O K A N OPRESIDENT'S MESSAGEThroughout my time as President, I have seen first- states that What affects dentists affects us all, hand the importance of having your voice heard andincluding every specialty group, and shares the role having a seat at the table. Many times, we think thatadvocacy has played in his career. This section is a we may not have a significant impact on the largerwonderful perspective on how advocacy plays a role in outcomes that affect the public. However, I am a strongall our lives, and how any one of us can get ourselves believer that advocating for periodontology leads toinvolved to advocate for our specialty and improve the better opportunities for periodontists and patients alike,outcomes for our members and our patients.whether it be providing better access to treatment for patients, better services as periodontists, or supportingThe District Town Halls are also a significant way in legislation that leads to these outcomes. I also believewhich our members can get themselves involved! As this can be done by members simply getting involvedwe all have busy schedules, the Academy has put and making sure their voices are heard.in the effort to make these Town Halls simpler for members to attend by making them virtual. The Town You may have seen the word advocacy being usedHalls provide a productive, communicative setting for by various members or throughout past issues ofAAP members to bring awareness of local legislation Periospectives, but many members may still beto their Trustees. They take place twice a yearin wondering what advocacy really means when it relatesthe Spring and in the Falland I strongly encourage to periodontology. The Academy supports advocatingmembers to take the time to attend and have their for the specialty in numerous ways, with one of itsvoices heard. To learn more about the District Town core values being advocating for the specialty withinHalls, visit page 7. organized dentistry, dental education, and non-dental legislative bodies. The Academy will continue to advocate for the specialty wherever and whenever possible, as This issue of Periospectives focuses on the importancewe have seen in the past with the support of the of advocacy and the ways in which the AcademyMassachusetts Ballot Initiative that helped establish is advocating for the specialty through these threea medical loss ratio (MLR) for all dental plans in categories. Each quarter, the Academy updates thethe state and with webinars such as the Healthy Advocacy webpage, which includes detailed descriptionsPeople 2030 free webinar: Reducing Moderate of what the AAP is doing to be a leading voice in theor Severe Periodontal Disease in Adults. To read health community. This quarter, members of the AAPmore about the success of these past efforts and (Dr. Chris Richardson, Dr. Purnima Kumar, and myself)more, visit page 6. were interviewed for an Economist impact report, the AAP hosted a special session during the InternationalI recommend looking into each of these past initiatives Osteology Symposium in Barcelona. Visit page 7 of thisand reflecting upon the wonderful work that has been issue and the Advocacy section of perio.org to read moreachieved thus far. Without our members, many of about this quarters advocacy efforts. these accomplishments would not have been possible. It is crucial that we work together to continue Our members recognize the value of advocacy and doadvocating for our specialty, and I look forward to what they can to be involved in these efforts. On pageseeing what we achieve next together! 13, you can find the Advocacy Corner, which provides various advocacy tools. In addition, this page focusesSincerely,on the path to leadership of the Chair of the AmericanDavid Okano, DDS, MS Dental Political Action Committee (ADPAC) and DistrictPresident 7 Senior TrusteeDr. Giorgio DiVincenzo. ADPAC is onAmerican Academy of Periodontologya national legislative scale, and having a member of the AAP as Chair holds very strong value. Dr. DiVincenzo AAP Periospectives| 5"