American Association of Hospital Dentists

The AAHD's Mission

You have chosen to dedicate your dental practice to the care and treatment of special patients. You have taken the road less traveled. You are making an important difference to thousands in our society. It is because you make a difference that the American Association of Hospital Dentists (AAHD) has grown from a handful of committed practitioners in 1937 to a national membership approaching 1,000 today. We, as an association, continue to grow, because you care. Working together, we have turned challenges into opportunities to ensure excellence in current clinical dental practice and to promote the highest educational standards for your personal and professional growth.

The 21st century is bringing some twists and turns in the road you have traveled. Keeping pace with change is more important than ever as the health care industry undergoes radical restructuring. The hospital, as the foremost traditional clinical practice setting for the collaboration of medicine and dentistry, is changing. In these times, you need national leadership you can count on. The AAHD can help you develop the skills, knowledge, creativity and leadership you need to make your practice thrive and help you advance in your profession. And enable us all to help shape the future of special care dentistry.

AAHD Can Make the Difference

Are you a general dentist? Dental specialist? Dental manager? Dental hygienist? AAHD has the resources to match your level of experience-whether you are new to the profession or a seasoned practitioner.

The Association Will:

• Assist you in gaining and maintaining clinical skills and knowledge to treat special patients in your office and in increasingly new areas, such as ambulatory care and surgical centers, urgent care centers, dialysis centers, extended care facilities, and hospice care settings.
• Provide education to help you assess and treat the needs of patients who have complex medical conditions, are elderly, are victims of child abuse, are severely diabetic, suffer from hemophilia, or are developmentally or otherwise disabled.
• Give you practical assistance to improve the organization and management of your dental practice.
• Work to develop new sources of payment and greater levels of reimbursement for dental care to special patients.
• Work to expand the opportunities for postgraduate training in the care of special patients.

Keeping You Informed

Special Care in Dentistry, a bimonthly journal, provides up-to-date information on the clinical care of special patients. Interface, a quarterly newsletter, keeps you abreast of timely issues and trends in the profession.

The Annual National Conference on Special Care Issues features speakers who are experts in the field and stimulating discussions of current issues that affect your individual practice and profession.

Helping You Advance

AAHD provides opportunities for members to serve as elected officials or to join colleagues participating on committees, councils, and task forces that help shape policy, education, research, and other professional concerns of the Association.

The Association offers contemporary Fellowship credentials for individuals seeking to achieve or maintain medical staff memberships.

A current listing of position referrals and a resident matching program keeps you informed of new professional opportunities.

Speaking on Your Behalf

AAHD helps shape national health policy, providing advocacy at the federal and state levels and responding to the concerns and interest of special care patients.

The Association works to establish standards, gathers and shares information on concerns, and initiates strategic planning alliances with the Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities and the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry as well as the American Dental Association, the American Association of Dental Schools, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the American Hospital Association, and the American Medical Association.