In late March the American Dental Association wrote the CDC, saying it had advised its members to postpone non-emergency dental work, and asking for guidance on how to safely conduct emergency procedures. On March 26, the CDC released interim guidelines recommending that dentists postpone all non-emergency procedures, and laying out preventative measures for emergency treatments.
By May 6, as some business owners and political groups began publicly calling for the country to reopen, the dental association had changed its tune, urging the CDC to revise its guidelines, arguing that new guidance was needed for areas of the country where COVID-19 cases were declining. That new guidance was made public on May 21.
The CDC isn’t the only federal agency involved in pandemic response that apparently gave in to the American Dental Association’s efforts. According to the dental association, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) made dentists a higher-priority sector for receiving personal protective equipment. FEMA now considers dentists the fourth most essential sector of health care for PPE, behind hospitals, nursing homes, and physicians, the Wall Street Journal reported. Dentists weren’t originally included on the priority list, but dental association lobbying efforts successfully elevated them to number seven, and eventually number four, according to the Texas Dental Association.
The American Dental Association has a well-funded lobbying machine in DC, spending over $2 million a year and employing 25 lobbyists in 2019, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets. According to lobbying disclosures, the dental association spent over half a million dollars between January and March of this year. The lobby focused on various coronavirus aid bills, and targeted the CDC, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, House of Representatives, Senate, and the White House. It did not disclose any lobbying of FEMA. The American Dental Association influence machine also funds political campaigns. The organization’s Super PAC has spent $114,000, exclusively supporting Republicans, in the 2020 campaign cycle. From the 2010 to 2016 election cycles, it solely spent to support Republicans, then in the 2018 cycle gave only to Democrats.
