Society of American Indian Dentists celebrates 25 Years
Posted: August 11, 2015
The Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) celebrated their 25th annual conference July 29-Aug. 1 in Washington, DC, at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Assistant Dean of American Indian Affairs at A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) and President Emeritus of SAID, George Blue Spruce, DDS, MPH, provided welcome remarks to distinguished guests. Among the attendees were Mike Andrews, majority staff director, and chief counsel and Anthony Walters, minority staff director and chief counsel, both with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
The conference included lectures that showcased a diverse lineup of speakers from the Indian Health Service, members of SAID, the American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, Hispanic Dental Association, and the National Dental Association.
ATSU-ASDOH has the only student chapter of The SAID national organization. Dr. Blue Spruce, co-founder of SAID, is the nation’s first American Indian dentist, and served as assistant surgeon general and director of the Indian Health Service Phoenix area.
SAID is a national, non-profit organization comprised of oral health professionals and students dedicated to promoting and improving the oral health of the American Indian/Alaskan Native community and providing advocacy for the American Indian/Alaskan Native dental professionals across the U.S.