“Twenty-seven years ago, I was at rock bottom in my addiction,” said Dr. Brett Kessler, outgoing president of the American Dental Association (ADA). “I didn’t know if I wanted to live, let alone be a dentist. But through the gift of grace, I chose sobriety. And it was this community — through the resources and support of the tripartite — that set me on a path to recovery.”
Decades later, Kessler’s personal turnaround became the foundation of his leadership, which concluded on Oct. 28. As the ADA’s 161st president, he made clinician wellness one of the key pillars of his term — a focus shaped by his recovery journey.
“This year we changed the narrative and culture around clinician wellness,” he told the ADA House of Delegates during his Oct. 25 presidential address. “We elevated our wellness resources to members, dental teams and students at no cost. The stigma is beginning to lift.”
A year of ‘unprecedented challenges’
Kessler concluded his term after what he described as a year of “constant challenges, which forced me to grow.”
“It was a year that humbled, stretched and inspired me in ways I could never have predicted,” he told delegates.
Among the most pressing issues: renewed attacks on community water fluoridation, threats to infection control and oral-health infrastructure, and cuts to federal research funding.
“The science is clear: remove fluoridation, and people suffer — especially our children,” he said, referencing fluoride bans in Utah and Florida. “At times, it felt like my presidency was defined by this fight. As a dentist and a dad of four, I knew the fight was worth it. We had to stand up for science — one of our core values.”
Related: Removing fluoride could cost billions in dental care, U.S. study says, citing Calgary as example
Funding cuts threaten oral-health research
Kessler also pointed to an estimated US $2 billion loss in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants following budget reductions under the Trump administration — a blow that has affected dental-research capacity across the United States.
The ADA further criticized the April 1 elimination of the CDC’s Division of Oral Health, part of a federal restructuring that dismantled key prevention programs.
“We fought to protect the mission of the CDC Division of Oral Health,” Kessler said. “Our message was clear: oral health is health. That was the first pillar of my presidency — reconnecting the mouth to the body.”
Related: American Dental Association warns of ‘blunt actions’ in Trump administration’s 10,000 HHS job cuts
Challenges within the ADA
The association faced its own internal turbulence, including the resignation of former executive director Dr. Raymond A. Cohlmia, problems with its management system, and financial-stability concerns.
“I didn’t run for this position to manage the day-to-day business operations of the ADA,” Kessler said. “When we saw that the business operations were not heading in a good direction, we course-corrected three months into my term. Being a changemaker is hard because change is hard.”
From recovery to resilience
Looking back, Kessler credits the same perseverance that led to his sobriety for helping him steer the ADA through a turbulent year.
“Several states have already shifted from punitive to supportive approaches,” he said. “We’re having more conversations around wellness, and I’m seeing more colleagues supporting each other.”
Related: Why dentists need to laugh
His presidency — marked by both professional upheaval and renewed focus on clinician wellness — concludes as it began: grounded in the belief that meaningful change, whether personal or institutional, starts with courage.
Meanwhile, Thomas M. Paumier, D.D.S., from Canton, Ohio, was voted president-elect Oct. 27 by the ADA House of Delegates.
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