Massachusetts Dental Society

The Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) is the statewide professional association for dental professionals, with more than 6,000 members and 427 new members who joined between January and December 2025. Its stated mission is "empowering dental health professionals throughout their careers." MDS is organized into 13 local district dental societies across the Commonwealth, including the Boston, Metropolitan, Worcester, and Cape Cod Districts.

Member services

• Continuing education — 300+ courses on clinical and practice-management topics, plus the Yankee Study Club webinar series.
• Career Center — connects job seekers with Massachusetts dental practices and employers.
• Member Savings Program — discounted partner pricing across financial services, insurance, office technology, and practice management vendors.
• Peer review and mediation — including a Malpractice Tribunal panel and peer-review resources for resolving patient disputes.

2026 legislative activity

• MassHealth adult dental benefit cap raised — Governor Maura Healey signed the FY27 state budget establishing a $1,750 annual cap on adult MassHealth dental benefits, effective August 1, 2026. MDS and the Oral Health Advocacy Taskforce continue to press MassHealth for exemptions covering urgent or medically necessary care.
• Patients First Act delayed to January 1, 2027 — this pricing-transparency law (requiring advance cost disclosure and carrying DPH fines of up to $2,500 per violation) was originally passed in 2020; MDS has repeatedly won delays and continues to seek legislation (H.1291/H.5043) removing dental care from the law entirely before it takes effect.
• H.4869 — proposed dental therapist licensure — still pending as of mid-2026; would create a new BORID-supervised mid-level provider category. The MDS Board of Trustees opposes the bill.

Annual conference

MDS hosts the Yankee Dental Congress, one of the largest dental conferences in New England. Yankee 2027, themed "Connecting for Oral Health," runs January 28–30, 2027, in Boston.