March 2013 / TDA Today / 3

As I write this article, I have just returned from Austin where we had an incredibly successful TDA Legislative Day!

It was our best attendance ever with approximately 300 members, executives, and guests who took time out of their busy lives to learn about TDA’s legislative agenda and lobby for our profession. The TDA Council on Legislative & Regulatory Affairs, chaired by Dr Rick Black of El Paso, and TDA staff do an incredible job of organizing the day.

TDA members took the capitol by storm, visiting more than 90 legislators to voice the TDA’s goals for the 83rd Legislature. Thank you, members! Your efforts provide legislators with important information as they consider our bills this session. But, we are not done. After all, “arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” Please continue to be part of the Association’s grassroots efforts.

I want to give a special thank you to members of the Alliance of the TDA, who packed hundreds of gift bags and delivered them to each senator’s and representative’s office. Their president, Ms Diane Bogan, along with Ms Janet Crow, helped coordinate this very important effort. Ladies, we could not do it without you!

Time will tell if we are able to achieve our legislative goals, but our members came through with an unbelievable effort for Legislative Day, 2013. You have my thanks and admiration!

President’sProse

Michael L. Stuart, DDS, TDA President

Monica Anderson, DDS — Austin, Texas

This recurring section highlights the lives of TDA members outside of the office. If you have an interesting story about yourself, if you are working on a project that your peers might find interesting, or if you have a hobby that keeps you busy, please contact TDA Managing Editor Nicole Scott, nicole@tda.org, 512-443-3675.

TDA Member Spotlight

EDitorial: Thoughts from Your ED

Aaron Washburn, TDA Executive Director

Trip Database UpdateThe Trip Database is a collection of medical and dental reviews of the literature offering an easy method to search for information of interest. Google “Trip Database” and select Advanced search at the top right of the page. Select your Clinical area, I did “dentistry” and under Your Profession “Dentist.” Under Automated search: enter search terms of interest and they will send you new reviews monthly. Select Save changes at the bottom of the page and scroll down the list of choices to read.

I saw several items of interest such as:

“Metal-Ceramic versus All-ceramic Dental Crowns: A Review of the Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness”

“Visual examination still the best way of detecting early carious lesions”

“Review suggests that incomplete caries removal advantageous, particularly in deep cavities”

“Guideline Summary: Guideline on pulp therapy for primary and immature permanent teeth.”

Give it a try. This is an easy and convenient way to keep up-to-date on subjects of your interest. And it is FREE.

Evidence-Based Practice

Tip of the Month

Stephen R. Matteson, DDS, FICD, TDA Editor

Dr Monica Anderson of Austin is the lead dental director for DentaQuest (Texas), which administers the state’s Medicaid dental program. A busy career woman with an even busier social and event calendar, Dr Moe, as

she’s affectionately known, is currently writing her sixth book.

Dr Moe, a native Texan, received her undergraduate degree from Baylor University and her dental degree at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 1988. She has 2 grown sons, Tony and Adrian, and 2 grandsons, 4-year-old Anthony and 9-month-old Apollo.

She published her first book in 1994 and hasn’t stopped writing since. Dr Moe was a weekly columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 1996 to 2004, while practicing dentistry full-time. Her second book is a collection of those articles about family life and relationships. She tackled nonfiction with her next 2 books and wrote novels that landed on bestseller lists. She published her fifth book, another novel set in her adopted hometown of Austin, in 2011.

She is a seasoned writer, a left-brained scientist and a right-brained artist, and says the titles to her books come later. “If you’ve been writing a lot, you start first with the outline. Everything I write engages the senses, which I hope creates a memorable experience for the reader.”

A dentist, an author, a mother. As if she has any free time to fit more into her schedule, Dr Moe is also a motivational speaker, delivering humorous but content-driven speeches to corporations, universities, civic groups, and educators. However, her energy and her motivation that have touched so many people were put to the ultimate test a year ago.

The first day at a new job is always unnerving. You want to wear the right attire, make the right impressions, and learn as much as you can about the organization and your duties as quickly as possible.

My first day at TDA was certainly filled with jitters. But, it also happened to be the day of the Budget Committee meeting.

I was quickly immersed in numbers: 2012 projected income and expenses, historical spending, approved 2013 budget, proposed 2014 budget, etc. Over the course of that day the committee examined departments, programs and line items to get a better understanding of the value of each line, propose cuts, adjust for inflation and make it all work to meet the goals of TDA.

It was great to see such a strong group so dedicated to the work before them (if only Washington could work this well).

At the last Board of Directors meeting, the whole board examined the work done by this committee at that meeting, and other meetings, and approved a final budget to the forward to the House. That budget projects spending of more than $300,000 LESS than 2013, supports the programs important to TDA’s success, and helps build an even better value for your TDA membership.

Their work will be printed for all members to review in the next Texas Dental Journal. As you review it, I am confident you will see how it supports the goals and mission of TDA and its members. And I hope it supports your vision for TDA as well.

It’s 5:30 AM, and Dr Moe prepares for another day at the office. She runs down her To Do list: review authorizations and claims, make calls to providers across the state, work on a presentation for the next stakeholders meeting, write an article for the newsletter. At lunch, she eats at her desk and squeezes in a call with her grandson who wants her support for ice cream for breakfast. She wraps up the afternoon, reviewing an expedited appeal and answering policy questions. Finally, she heads home at 6:00 PM to rest. And write.

Dr Monica Anderson lives life to the fullest as she skydives over Denton, Texas, in 2000. She says it was a bucket list adventure, which it sure was! “The first parachute didn’t open,” she recalls. “Thank God for back up.”

Monica Anderson, DDS, is the lead dental director for DentaQuest (Texas). The 50-year-old mother of 2 and grandmother of 2 is currently undergoing treatment for stage III cancer, but that does not stop her busy work and social schedules. Dr Moe, as she is affectionately known, is a also motivational speaker and author.

Dr Monica (Dr Moe) Anderson delivers a keynote speech. Dr Moe is currently the lead dental director for DentaQuest (Texas). Prior to this position, she was the dental director at TMF Health Quality Institution, a dentist at St. David’s Community Health Foundation, and was in private practice. Dr Moe is also the president and founder of Austin’s Black Newcomers Association.

In February 2012, Dr Moe admitted herself to the emergency room for something she thought was very minor … benign, really. She thought she had food poisoning. Turns out, she had a very rare gastrointestinal stromal tumor that had metastasized to her liver. It was a stage III diagnosis.

“The diagnosis is devastating. It knocks you out in a way (Mike) Tyson could never do,” she says. “But cancer does not mean death. I have cancer. It doesn’t have me. I’ve survived to today! And I am not giving up.”

This optimistic attitude is what keeps Dr Moe going. “I had to really make sure that I believed what I was saying all these years,” she recalls. “I had been working all of 1 week (at DentaQuest). I was sure I’d be fired! But, they didn’t bat an eye and gave me extra support.”

Add to her ever-growing list of titles: cancer survivor. As for the title of her sixth book, it is yet to be determined and recounts life lessons learned from mothers, grandmothers, and other influential women. It’s funny, yet poignant, she says, and currently a work in progress. Fitting as she starts another new chapter in her life.