Since 1930, the ADA Seal Program has evaluated both professional and consumer products , granting the Seal of Acceptance to those products proven safe and effective. Members are encouraged to use the ADA Seal as notice of safety and effectiveness and to use this useful tool as a means to make informed purchasing decisions. The ADA also serves as the secretariat for the development of voluntary standards for products used in dentistry, standards used by the ADA in its guidelines to evaluate products under the Seal Program. The Division also coordinates U.S. involvement in the development of international standards for dental products. Each year many of dentists are forced to leave clinical practice due to illness or injury.
Some dentists simply decide to leave private practice.
To help facilitate a transition to an alternative career, members may obtain useful resource information on assessing new career paths and contact points in fields that tend to employ dentists in non-clinical capacities. For more information, see Alternative Dental Career Packet , or call the Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations, extension 2861. The Foundation was established by the ADA Board of Trustees in 1964 for the purpose of funding applied scientific dental research, and was reorganized in 1994 to broaden its activities to include education, development and charitable assistance activities. The Foundation's current agenda includes applied scientific research in the areas of waterline contamination, lidocaine metabolism, and the evaluation of peroxides in dental hygiene products. Support for projects outside the research arena is also awarded by the Foundation.