CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS
Constitution
and ByLaws

March, 2002

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I
Name
This Society shall be called the Scranton District Dental Society.

ARTICLE II
Object

  1. It’s object shall be the same as that of the Pennsylvania Dental Association; to cultivate the arts and the science of dentistry; research; disseminate knowledge; enlighten public opinion; and to maintain uniformity of laws.
  2. The function and operation shall conform to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Pennsylvania Dental Association and the American Dental Association.

ARTICLE III
Membership

Section I. Active members. Every ethical legally licensed dentist practicing in the territory embracing Lackawanna County, Wayne County, Pike County, Susquehanna County, and Wyoming County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall be eligible to activate membership. Active membership shall not be maintained in two components of the Pennsylvania Dental Association at the same time.

Privileges of Membership. Active members shall have the right to:

  1. Vote
  2. Hold office
  3. Attend all sessions
  4. Serve on committees
  5. Receive the official publication and the other mailings
  6. Such other services as are provided by the Society

 

Section 2.  Associate members. Practitioners of Dentistry residing outside of Pennsylvania, or practitioners of Medicine, or active members in good standing of other component societies of the Pennsylvania Dental Association shall be eligible to associate membership. Associate members shall have the same standing and privileges in this Society as active members, except the right to vote or hold office, and shall have no standing or privileges in the Pennsylvania State Dental Association by virtue of their associate membership in this Society. Practitioners of Dentistry, practicing within the jurisdiction of this Society are not eligible to associate membership.

Section 3. Honorary Members. Honorary Membership may be conferred upon anyone whom this Society shall decide so to honor.

Section 4. A member of this Society, in good standing, who has completed thirty-five (35) years, consecutively, or forty (40) years, non-consecutively of active membership in this Society as interpreted in Section 2 of this Article, and who has reached the age of 65 years of age, may, upon application, be elected to Life membership in this Society. Retired or Life members shall be excused from payment of dues.

Section 5. Rights and Privileges. Active, Life, and retired members in good standing shall have the right to vote, to hold office, and to take part in the conduct of the affairs of this Society.

Section 6. Recent Graduates. Recent graduates duly registered by the Board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall have the privilege of membership in this Society without the usual membership fee. However, they must meet the obligation of the Pennsylvania Dental Association and the American Dental Association. They shall not pay local and district dues for one (1) year.

ARTICLE IV
Elective offices

President, President – Elect, two Vice Presidents, Secretary, and Treasurer.
The Board of Governors consisting of the past five Presidents, with the immediate Past President acting as the Chairman of the Board.  These people have full board privileges.
The Directors would include four members that sit and have board privileges.
Bulletin Editor – having full board privileges.
These will all be one-year terms from January 1st to December 31st. This group of officers will be known as “The Board.”

ARTICLE V
Standing Committees

  1. Continuing Education
  2. National Dental Health Month
  3. Community Dental Clinic
  4. Public Relations
  5. Ethics/Patient Relations
  6. Membership
  7. Budget
  8. Patient Care/Third Party Insurance
  9. Military Affairs
  10. Hospital Relations
  11. Board of Censors
  12. Dental Lab Relations
  13. President’s Dinner
  14. ByLaws

ARTICLE VI
Place of Meeting

The meeting of this Society shall be held in Scranton, except as voted otherwise by the society.

The Chairman of the Board will decide on the Board meetings location.

ARTICLE VII
Amending the Constitution

The Constitution may be amended or altered by two-thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting, provided the proposed amendment shall have been presented in writing at a previous regular meeting. No amendment can be considered which in any way conflicts with the requirements of the State Society. An official notice from the Board of Trustees of the State Association of any changes prescribed by the body in the Constitution of the component societies shall be accepted by this Association and become a part of this Constitution. The Pennsylvania Dental Association requires this.

BY LAWS

ARTICLE I
Duties of Officers

Section 1. The President shall preside at all of the meetings of the Society, appoint all standing and special committees, and shall perform such other duties as usually appertain to this office; sign vouchers upon the Treasurer for necessary expenses. The President shall be an ex officio member of all committees. At the expiration of his term of office, the President shall be presented with a plaque as a token of esteem from the Society.

(ALL ELECTIVE OFFICERS SHALL BE REFERRED TO AS BOARD MEMBERS)

Section 2.  The President- Elect shall assist the President and become an ex officio member of all committees. He shall, also, assume the responsibility of Program Chairman. At the installation of officers at the next annual meeting following his election, he shall assume the office of President of this Society without other election.  He shall be the General Meeting Planner.  This will include picking menus and speakers for this meeting.  He will make all necessary arrangements for these meetings.

  1. In case of death, resignation, or removal from office of the President, he shall immediately assume that office finishing the un-expired term.
  2. A vacancy created by any emergency in the office of President- Elect shall be filled at a regular meeting following the created vacancy, and that according to the constitution and bylaws the nomination for this office be made by the nominating committee which consists of the Board of Governors.

Section 3. Immediate Past President shall be known as the Chairman of the Board.

He will preside over the Board meetings; choose the location; and preside over the Installation of officers.

Section 4. The Vice-President shall assist the President during his absence, or at his request; one of them shall preside, and assume the duties of the President. In the absence of all three officers, the President-Elect shall preside, and in the absence of all these designated officers, a chairman pro-tempore may be elected from the members of the Board present.

Section 5. The Secretary shall keep the records of this Society, and perform such other duties as pertain to this office. He shall co-sign, with the President, all vouchers drawn by the Treasurer for all necessary expenditures. (At the discretion of the President, he may appoint an assistant to the Secretary whose duties will be delegated by the Secretary.) The Secretary shall send proper condolences in the event of a death of a member.

  1. Annual dues to be collected by and monitored by the Secretary.

Section 6. The Treasurer shall receive, and keep all moneys belonging to this Society, and pay out same, on written orders of the Board of Directors.

Section 7. Board of Governors, The immediate five past presidents, with the most recent being the Chairman of the Board.  They will function as the nominating committee, with the Chairman of the Board voting in the event of a tie. These nominations will be presented to the general members at the October General meeting and voted on at the November General meeting.

Section 8. The management of this Society shall be vested in the Board members.

  1. The Board members shall meet at the call of the Chairman of the Board.
  2. The Board members shall control the business of this Society, and its action shall be subject to appeal of this Society. It shall vote no money except for expenses of this Society.
  3. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum.
  4. The minutes of any meeting of the Board shall be read at the next regular meeting of this Society and printed in the monthly newsletter.
  5. If any officer shall absent himself without an acceptable excuse from three consecutive meetings, the office may be declared vacant.

ARTICLE II
Duties of Committees

Section I

  1. The President shall appoint all committees and subcommittees necessary for the proper functioning of the Society, except as specially provided for.
  2. All committee appointees shall serve for the term of one year, except as specially provided for. The President shall at any time fill vacancies.
  3. The President and the President-Elect shall be ex officio members of all committees.
  4. Committees shall refer all recommendations to the Board for action, unless otherwise directed by the Board.

ARTICLE III
Election of Officers

Nominations for office shall be made by the Board of Governors as elected. The names of the Nominees shall be presented to the Society at the regular General meeting in October. The elections are held in November at the General meeting. Members can add names to the ballot from the floor at the General meeting held in October.

ARTICLE IV
Meetings

Section 1. This Society shall hold its General meeting the third Tuesday of each month, except May, June, July, August and December. The December meeting shall be a social event honoring the outgoing President. These regular meetings may be changed from time to time by request and affirmative vote of three-fourth (3/4) of all the members present. Twenty (20) members present shall be considered a quorum.

Section 2. Special meetings may be called by a written request of not less that fifteen members. Notice of such meetings must be sent out seven days prior to meetings, and must state the business to be transacted. No other business may be transacted at such meetings.

ARTICLE V
Dues

Section 1. The dues this Society shall be a total of the current dues of:

  1. ADA
  2. PDA
  3. Third District Dental Society
  4. Scranton District Dental Society

Section 2. Honorary and Life Members shall be exempt from dues.

Section 3. A member failing to pay his or her dues by March 31st of each year shall be automatically suspended without action of the Society. The Membership Committee shall notify any member delinquent, by March 1st. upon payment of such indebtedness, he or she shall be restored to full membership.

Section 4.  No part of the net earnings of the Scranton District Dental Society shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to, the members, Directors or Officers of this organization; except the S.D.D.S. shall have the authority and power to pay reasonable compensation for services actually rendered to this society.

ARTICLE VI
Rules of Order

Sturgis Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of our meetings.

ARTICLE VII
Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics if this Society shall be the same as that of the Pennsylvania State Dental Association.

ARTICLE VIII
Amendments

Section 1. These Bylaws may be amended by a two-third vote of the membership present at a regular meeting, providing the proposed amendment was presented in writing at a previous regular meeting and properly endorsed by two members in good standing.

Section 2.  An amendment not in accord with the Code of Ethics of the Pennsylvania Dental Association shall not be accepted by this Society.

Section 3. An official directive from the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State Dental Association regarding any changes made by that body in the ByLaws of component societies shall be accepted by this Society and made part of its ByLaws.

Committee on Revision of the Constitution and ByLaws.

  1. Joseph Perrotti
  2. Joseph Gronsky
  3. David Nagurney
  4. Joseph T. Kelly

PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL ASSOCIATION

PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS AND CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
The purpose of the Pennsylvania Dental Association shall be to serve the public, promote optimal dental care and advance the art and science of dentistry.

In conjunction with the American Dental Association, the following Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct has been adopted as standards by which dentists should determine the propriety of their conduct.

  1. A primary consideration of the dental practitioner is to render quality care.
  2. All dentists shall keep their knowledge and skill current and make available to all patients and colleagues the benefits of their professional attainments.
  3. It is improper conduct for a dentist to represent or imply that he or she is a specialist without an appropriate certificate from a recognized specialty accredited by the ADA.
  4. Appropriate quality care is the hallmark of professionalism and is the basis for good patient-dentist relationships.
  5. It is the responsibility of the dental profession to maintain high ethical standards when making statements or representations about care and skill. Both in private discussions with patients and in public announcements these statements shall be based in honesty and factual information.
  6. A dentist shall not imply membership in a dental organization unless current membership is maintained.
  7. A dentist should seek consultation or recommend referral when the welfare of the patient will be safeguarded or enhanced by utilizing those who have special skills, knowledge and experience.
  8. Dentists may exercise reasonable discretion on selecting patients for their practices. They shall not refuse to accept patients into their practice or deny service to patients because of the patient’s race, creed, color, sex or national origin.
  9. Dentists shall be obligated to make reasonable arrangements for the emergency care of their patients of record.
  10. Dentists shall be obligated to protect the health of their patients by only assigning to qualified auxiliaries those duties, which can be legally delegated.
  11. Dentists should observe all laws and uphold the dignity and honor of the profession.
  12. The names of all dentists practicing at a particular location shall be at all times prominently and conspicuously displayed.

INSTALLATION OF NEW OFFICERS.
“It is my pleasure to introduce to you the officers for the year2001-2002 of the Scranton District Dental Society”

Your president:
Your president-elect:
Your vice president:
Your vice president:
Your secretary:
Your treasurer:

YOUR BULLETIN EDITOR AND YOUR FOUR DIRECTORS:
Will you all please raise your right hand:

Do you solemnly swear to serve freely without reservations, conduct your dutines in conformance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the PDA articles of incorporation, the Scranton District Dental Society constitution and bylaws, and the mandates of the House of Delegates of the Association?

If so, answer ‘I DO’

I now declare you duly installed officers of the Scranton District Dental Society.

”Congratulations and best wishes on the coming year!”