Dentist Health & Wellness Committee - CDAD
of the Massachusetts Dental Society

About The Dentist Health & Wellness Committee

• Confidentiality
• History of CDAD

CDAD welcomes self-referrals and encourages voluntary participation. Each referral is treated individually, in a compassionate and confidential manner.

When a third party contacts CDAD about a dentist, the committee assesses the situation and considers intervening with the dentist. Dentists who are chemically dependent or at risk of professional impairment are encouraged to enroll in the Massachusetts Professional Recovery System (MPRS) monitoring program.

The monitoring program requires the dentist to enter into an individualized, contractual agreement with MPRS that specifies a course of treatment and documents the progress of recovery. The standard contract may require individual therapy, group support meetings, random urine drug screens, and the cooperation of a monitor who interacts with the dentist on a regular basis to document the dentist’s abstinence from drugs and alcohol.

Monitoring contracts are also available to dentists with behavioral health problems. These contracts are designed to document that the dentist is complying with a specified treatment plan.

CDAD services include:

• Identify and assist chemically dependent dentists before professional impairment occurs.
• Expert consultation and intervention designed to encourage dentists to seek help for substance misuse, behavioral or mental health concerns, and physical illness
  
• Referral to treatment and counseling including Twelve Step Facilitation Therapy such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Alanon.
  
• Recovery monitoring and documentation
  
• Support groups for dentists and their families
  
• Networking opportunities with colleagues experiencing similar issues
  
• Educational programs and presentations to dental school students and faculty; lectures at committee meetings and professional meetings

The benefits of working with CDAD include:

• CDAD provides impaired dentists the opportunity to avoid the embarrassment, costs, and disciplinary action, including the suspension or loss of license to practice dentistry, that sometimes result form public exposure.
• Nation-wide surveys of medical and dental boards indicate that 75% of disciplinary actions are a direct or indirect result of alcohol or other drug misuse. In Massachusetts, this figure is only slightly greater than 50% due to CDAD’s early identification efforts prior to involvement with the licensing boards.
• CDAD is non-coercive and non-punitive. The aim of its program is 100% pro-active & therapeutic.
• No governing body, incuding MDS and BORID, is privy to CDAD membership or activities.
• CDAD maintains confidentiality and anonymity for dentists in recovery from alcohol and other drug dependence.
• CDAD offers currently an average of 18 peer support group meetings per month in three distinct Massachusetts locations. 

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