OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON                                               WASHINGTON  D.C.

     In January of 2010---2016 Dr. Heyamoto went to Olympia, WA to talk to Senators and Representatives about dental relative issues.  Preserving patient choice of providers and governmental support of Medicaid were part of his agenda.

     In February of 2010 and 2011, Dr. Heyamoto traveled to Chicago as part of a special taskforce comprised of eight ADA/AGD (Four American Dental Association Trustees/Four Academy of General Dentistry Trustees).  Topics are under closed session, but the the effort is to unite and continue both organizations working closely together to protect the excellent U.S.dental healthcare sytem

           In April of 2010, Dr. Heyamoto headed to Washington D.C. to talk to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.  Representatives Jay Inslee and Alan Smith offices were also visited.  All four were informed of dentistry's support of H.R. 5000 (Dental Coverage Value and Transparency Act), H.R. 3763 (Red Flags Act) and H.R. 4626 (McCarran-Ferguson Act).

In May of 2010, Dr. Heyamoto found himself in Chicago again, this time as AGD Trustee of Region XI, where he continues to work on behalf of organized dentistry to preserve the scope of practice for general dentists.  On the left, he poses with Trustees from Texas and Kansas.

In July 2010, Dr.Heyamoto served as Trustee of Region XI (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington) in New Orleans at the Academy of General Dentistry's annual meeting. 

In July 2011, Dr. Heyamoto served as Trustee for Region XI in San Diego.



In June 2012, Dr. Heyamoto served as A.G.D.'s Region XI Trustee in Philadelphia.

He again served as Region XI Trustee in 2013 when the AGD met in Nashville, Tennessee.

Congressman Paul Gosar, (R) Arizona 4th District, was a practicing dentist for 25 years prior to running for Congress.  Dr. Heyamoto participated in a fundraiser when in Nashville.

 In August 2010, Detroit was the venue for the Board of Trustee meeting of the Academy of General Dentistry.  A visit to the Detroit Institute of Art was a highlight for Dr. Heyamoto.  Here he is pictured alongside an original Van Gogh self portrait.  In 2011, the B.O.T. meeting was held in San Destin, Florida.   Boca Raton was the 2012 site.

Dr. Heyamoto completed his year (2009-2010) as Chairman of the Budget/Finance Committee of the Washington State Dental Association by delivering the financial report to the House of Delegates in September.  He then ran for and was elected to a three year term as a member of WSDA Board of Directors.

In September 2010, the Washington State Dental Association held their District XI Caucus at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane.  Discussions included preparations for the ADA House of Delegates meeting in Orlando.  For 2011, Dr. Heyamoto attended the Caucus held at Cedarbrook Lodge in preparation for Las Vegas in October. In 2012, the Caucus was held in Portland, Oregon in preparation for San Francisco in October 2012.

 In October 2010, the ADA met in Orlando.  Dr. Heyamoto was a part of the ADA's District 11 contingency which helped develop national policy and  guidelines for the ADA board of trustees. 

He again represented the State of Washington in 2011 when they meet in Las Vegas.

 Dr. Gary was part of the Washington State contingency again in 2012 when they met in San Francisco.

Since 2006, Dr. Heyamoto has served as chair of WA AGD's Continuing Dental Education Committee. 

Washington State Dental Association held a Dental Action Day in Olympia in January 2013.  Dr. Heyamoto met with two Senators and four Representatives to discuss reinstatement of adult Medicaid and oppossition to midlevel providers.   Expansion and reinstatement of existing programs would be a better use of money,especially in these economic times.  The elderly, the blind and the frail in nursing homes are part of what Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation", yet our State decided to cut funding for their healthcare and dental care.  Instead, they want to create an entirely new program that will need state assistance to succeed. This cut also eliminates many of the patients seen at the dental school hurting the training needed for dental students.  In their wisdom, this cut hurt access to care and education, ironically both topics our State claims they champion.  Dr. Heyamoto brought this message to District 1 and 45's legislators where unfortunately many "still don't get it" and refuse to vote to protect the public.  Their shortsightedness will end up costing the public, the State and many individuals in the future.  Update:  In June 2013, adult Medicaid was voted to be reinstated with restrictions ... it's a start. 

Once again, Dr. Heyamoto participated in the 2010-2016 and 2017 Dental Action Day hoping our legislators will one day see the benefits of prevention as a cost saving and public benefit.

                              RE-ELECTED

At the WSDA 2013 House of Delegates meeting in Chelan, WA, Dr. Heyamoto was re-elected to the Board of Directors for his second three-year term.  He will continue to fight issues threatening the quality of dental care for the citizen of Washington.

In November 2015 at the ADA Annual meeting in Washington D.C., Dr. Gary served on a reference committee governing sedation regulations.

                                               

 In  October 2016 Dr. Gary finished his second of two three year terms to complete his time on the WSDA Board of Directors.  He then promptly accepted the Clinic Director position of the newly established WA AGD Learning Center (to add onto his position of Continuing Education Chair). 

Dr. Heyamoto is the Academy of General Denstisry's  Region XI  Past-Trustee, having served seven years as Trustee.

(Serving Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington)

 Dr. Dr. Heyamoto was part of the American Dental Association's District 11 contingency which met in Orlando Florida (October 2010) and in Las Vegas (October 2011).