My Experience as a Dental Quality Assurance Commission Member

By Aaron Stevens, DMD

The deepest lessons in life are experiential and come at a price paid in effort and time.

The lessons I’ve learned while serving on the Dental Quality Assurance Commission fit that model. The time and effort required have been tremendous, not just by me, but by those around me, for which I thank them.

I started to list what serving here has cost, and quickly stopped. No one would do it if they knew the costs before they knew the payoff.

All that aside, here is why it is worth it:

1. Avoid pitfalls: Seeing others’ mistakes provides an unforgettable education. Dumb things I’ve done or could do came flying through my mind when I went through other people’s discipline cases. I’ve seen errors that I just didn’t know could exist. After I spent time on the phone with attorneys, I could see things more through their eyes. As a clinician thinking like a lawyer, you develop a nose for risk management and a visceral drive to stay out of the traps.
2. Write the rules: There is a depth of professional knowledge that can only come in rule writing. You don’t just know the rule, but you helped craft it, eliminate workarounds, and tease out nuance in wordsmithing. You are intimately familiar with not only what is there and why, but also why something else isn’t.
3. A wider view: Talking cases with specialists, experts, lawyers, EFDAs, investigators, professors, business owners, educators, and program managers lends itself to seeing things differently. You don’t know what you don’t know. A percentage of what you think you know is wrong when viewed through a different lens. With these diverse perspectives, you can’t help but see what you do each day differently.
4. Top-tier people: We become like those we surround ourselves with. Choosing to serve has the side benefit of being in the best of company. I’ve had the privilege of serving with kind, competent, hard-working, and deeply committed DOH staff and Commissioners. They have raised my personal bar for those I associate with, and I aspire to be more like them.

Top to bottom, it is an education you simply can’t buy and can’t get any other way. I’m a better dentist in every way. My records are better. I know what cases to stay out of. I know better what red flags to look for in both patients and staff. I know better when to retire. I have a far clearer understanding of ethics. My patient communication and informed consent are better. I’m better at telling people “No.” My confidence in handling more challenging cases is better because I know where the lines are.

The cost: It takes time and effort and isn’t a fit for everyone at every stage of their lives. Plan on 25 hours a month or so. It used to take more travel. That part is in flux as the commission is changing its schedule with live vs. virtual meetings. You’ll write a lot. You’ll get to teach. The schedule shifts with short notice, especially with cases going to trial. You’ll probably be less popular with fellow dentists. There is a lot of email and phone calls. Cases that used to be on paper are now online, which is easier.

Take home: The cost for me was high, but I can’t imagine being without what I have learned. Good education should change you, and this has been transformational for me. If you have the space in your life, the willingness to put the public good first, and the dedication to leave the woodpile higher than you found it, please apply.