On July 13, AGD advocacy leaders gathered for AGD’s 2021 Virtual Hill Day event to meet with their members of Congress and discuss AGD priority legislative issues. Before their Congressional meetings, attendees heard from high-level guest speakers and received advocacy training on the issues facing oral health and general dentistry on July 8.  

The event culminated in a day of meetings with lawmakers to urge their support for AGD’s top advocacy priorities, including:  

• The Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act – legislation to help develop and test evidence-based oral health literacy strategies across vulnerable populations to provide oral disease prevention education. 
• Medicare Dental Benefits Expansion – opposition to legislative proposals that would expand the Medicare program to provide dental benefits coverage, and support for a new program to provide coverage to low-income seniors (under 300% FPL). 
• The Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act (S.1793/H.R.3461) – legislation that will prevent insurers from holding dentists to fees for services they don’t cover. 
• The Resident Education Deferred Interest Act (H.R.4122) – legislation that would allow new dentists to qualify for interest-free deferment on their student loans while serving in a dental internship or residency program.  

Impact on General Dentistry: The AGD looks forward to leveraging this event to continue strengthening its relationships with key lawmakers and expanding the voice of dentistry on Capitol Hill. AGD appreciates the many members who attended and looks forward to holding an in-person event next year.