ADA Dentist Health and Well-Being Conference

Conference Details

• Agenda

  7:00 am
  Open AA Meeting/Registration Check-In

  8:00 am
  Registration Check-In and Breakfast

  8:30 am
  Opening Remarks — Drs. Stacey K. Van Scoyoc, Council on Dental Practice Chair and Kathleen O’Loughlin, ADA Executive Director

  8:45 am
  Keynote — TBD

  9:45 am
  Stress and Burnout in Dentistry — WHO ME? – Susan Cushing, DMD

  10:45 am
  Break

  11:00 am
  Burning Brightly without Burning Out — James Willey, DDS, MBA, FACD

  12:00 pm
  Lunch

  1:00 pm
  Perfectionism and Burnout in Dentistry: Are They Inevitable? — William “Bill” Claytor, Jr., DDS, MAGD

  2:30 pm
  Break

  2:45 pm
  Final Thoughts and Discussion of Conference Registrant Survey Results — William “Bill” Claytor, Jr., DDS, MAGD

  4:00 pm
  Five Avoidable Pitfalls of Leadership — David T. “Chip” Dodd, PhD (Sponsored by JourneyPure)

  5:00 pm
  Adjournment

• Speakers

  Susan Cushing, DMD

  Dr. Susan Cushing has been practicing dentistry for more than 37 years, with a focus on treating fearful and phobic dental patients. She is a graduate of Boston College and Tufts University Dental School. She’s a fellow in the International College of Dentistry and a master in the Academy of General Dentistry. She’s also a certified clinical hypnotherapist and a master practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming, which helps others redirect their own thoughts, actions and behaviors in order to improve their lives. Dr. Cushing's outside interests include volunteering at the Friends of Falmouth Dogs shelter, the Cape Cod Disaster Animal Response Team and other community service organizations. In addition to her volunteer work, she’s an actress with the Woods Hole Community Theater on Cape Cod and an avid reader and AudioBooks on Tape listener.

  James Willey, DDS, MBA, FACD

  Dr. Jim Willey retired from the American Dental Association in 2019. Prior to coming to the ADA in 2006, Dr. Willey practiced general dentistry in Elburn, Ill. for 26 years. During his tenure at the ADA, Dr. Willey led the interagency staff team that created the ADA Center for Professional Success. He served three terms as mayor of Elburn, Ill. As a local mayor, he led efforts to create a unique Veterans Memorial featuring a retired U.S. Army battle tank. Dr. Willey is a founding member of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and a color bearer of the American Battlefield Trust.  He enjoys touring Civil War battlefields and collecting Lionel model train sets. He holds a BA from Southern Illinois University, BSD and DDS degrees from the University of Illinois, and an Executive MBA degree from Northern Illinois University.

  J. William “Bill” Claytor, Jr., DDS, MAGD

  Dr. Bill Claytor graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry and completed a two year General Practice Residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. He received the Academy of General Dentistry’s (AGD’s) coveted fellowship and mastership, and most recently the prestigious AGD Lifelong Learning and Service Recognition Award. Dr. Claytor earned a certificate in Chemical Dependency Counseling from Union College and currently serves on the Dental Well-Being Advisory Committee of the ADA. He is a recipient of the C.V. Winter Advocacy Award from the North Carolina Caring Dental Professionals and serves as the volunteer coordinator and independent contractor for the same organization. Dr. Claytor lectures throughout North Carolina and the United States on the opioid epidemic, burnout, perfectionism and addiction, and he recently spoke at the Southeastern Conference on Addiction and Behavioral Health and the annual session of the Colorado Dental Association on these topics. Dr. Claytor writes for several dental publications and online magazines about digital dentistry, endodontics, cone beam technology and is a key opinion leader for Dentsply Sirona. Dr. Claytor also manages the “Ask Bill” blog on www.digitalenamel.com, where he addresses current and relevant issues facing dentists, including substance abuse, burnout and professional burnout. He and his wife Lisa enjoy life with their two children, William and Jennifer, and their Jack Russell terrier, Bailey.

  David T. “Chip” Dodd, PhD

  Dr. Chip Dodd received his PhD in Counseling from the University of North Texas and his MA in English from the University of Mississippi.  He is the executive director and founder of The Center for Professional Excellence, now part of the JourneyPure family—a multidisciplinary treatment center for professionals with addiction, depression, burnout, anxiety and other behavioral issues. He is also the founder of Sage Hill, which is dedicated to teaching and training others in the Spiritual Root System.  Dr. Dodd is the director of Sage Hill Resources and the author of The Voice of the Heart: A Call to Full Living, The Perfect Loss: A Different Kind of Happiness, Needs of the Heart, Anthem to the Invisible, and Keeping Heart.