November 1 Proofs Note from the Editor

By Kevin Henry
Editor, Proofs

Welcome to November! I love this month, and one of the reasons I love it is because of Thanksgiving. It’s a great holiday where family and friends come together for a day of eating and football. It’s truly a day where I can sit at the table and think about all of the blessings I have in my life that I seem to take for granted the other 364 days of the year.

A tradition at the Henry household after Thanksgiving is to enjoy some homemade apple pie (no one made a better one than my grandma). It’s my all-time favorite dessert and I always look forward to sitting in front of the TV, watching some football, and downing my piece of warm apple pie. Silly, but true.

As you read this, I’m on the way to the Dental Trade Alliance annual meeting in Washington, D.C., scheduled for this Tuesday through Thursday. It’s a great meeting and I truly enjoy the time I get to spend with so many leaders in the dental industry. It’s also a meeting where I (and everyone else) will be focusing on a different kind of pie. One of the catchphrases I always hear at the DTA meeting is “growing the pie” in our industry. Bottom line, if the dental industry grows, everyone wins. It makes sense, and it’s a tremendous rallying cry for those who are competitors to become allies.

A recent public opinion survey commissioned by Oral Health America found that in the past year, more than one-third (35%) of those who regularly visit the dentist have cut back. Findings like this are just some of the things that will be discussed in Washington, D.C., this week. These are the types of numbers that we all must be aware of when we’re looking at the current state and near future of our industry.

I’ll be reporting back from the DTA meeting in the next Proofs e-newsletter. If there’s something you’d like for me to ask our industry leaders while I’m in our nation’s capital this week, just drop me a line at [email protected]. I’ll be glad to do it.

I’m looking forward to a good meeting and learning about how we can all grow the pie together.

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