Definition of American Dental Association (ADA)

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American Dental Association (ADA): The mission statement of the ADA reads as follows:

"The ADA is the professional association of dentists dedicated to serving both the public and the profession of dentistry. The ADA promotes the public's health through commitment of member dentists to provide quality oral health care, accessible to everyone. The ADA promotes the profession of dentistry by enhancing the integrity and ethics of the profession, strengthening the patient/dentist relationship and making membership the foundation of successful practice. The ADA fulfills its public and professional mission by providing services and through its initiatives in education, research, advocacy and the development of standards."

The ADA was founded August 1859, at Niagara Falls, N.Y., by 26 dentists representing various dental societies in the United States. The ADA today has more than 141,000 members. It is "the largest and oldest national dental association in the world."

The Association's official publication is The Journal of the American Dental Association. Other publications include the ADA News and the Index to Dental Literature.

The ADA's Council on Dental Education/Commission on Dental Accreditation is the nationally recognized accrediting agency for 1,242 dental educational and dental auxiliary educational programs in the United States.

The ADA library is one of the largest dental libraries in the world, with approximately 33,000 books, 17,500 bound journal volumes, and subscriptions to more than 800 journals.

The ADA formally recognizes eight specialty areas of dental practice: dental public health, endodontics, oral pathology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics and prosthodontics.

This information is condensed from the ADA site (www.ada.org).