Thank you all for the opportunity to serve as your 2026-2027 FAP President. From the time that I went to my very first meeting, I always appreciated the camaraderie and the impressive presentations that I saw. I never imagined I would be entrusted with the stewardship of our great association. 

 Serving on the Executive Council has made me more involved, more informed, and more committed to our specialty than ever before. It also has given me a deep appreciation for the hard work that goes on behind the scenes that makes our meetings successful.

On behalf of all of us, I would like to thank Marlinda Fulton for her 20 years of service as the Executive Director of our organization. I know for a fact she has had her share of sleepless nights negotiating with hotels, vendors and speakers. But over the last 20 years she has certainly been the glue that kept everything running smoothly. She gave her all to this association and now gets the well-deserved opportunity to pass the baton.

 Our search for a new partner to fill her role was surprisingly short. ZuBu Management Solutions, with names that many of you already know like Kelsey Bulnes, Lissette Zuknick and Jodi Hook, is a team of very organized, talented individuals. They manage some of the most respected organizations in the state, including the Florida Prosthodontic Association and Florida Association of Orthodontists, and numerous others. We could immediately tell that they were a good fit for our organization. Welcome aboard ZuBu Management Solutions.

 On a more personal note, I would like to thank my dad, Dr. Leonard Britten, whom we lost to cancer in 2021. He was a good man, a great dentist and an even better father. Dad served on numerous executive councils in his time including chairman of the Florida Board of Dentistry. His greatest lesson was that we must stay involved in organized dentistry, it is our best resource to protect the standards of care of our great profession and, more importantly, to protect the public. He always reminded me to do the right thing no matter the cost, and to do what is in the best interest of our patients.

 Another mentor of mine once told me that periodontists are the conscience of dentistry. We are the voice of reason to our dental colleagues in doing what’s right for the whole mouth, the whole patient, not just for one tooth or one implant. We are very fortunate to now have strong representation of our specialty on the Florida Board of Dentistry, with 3 of the 7 dentist members being periodontists: Dr. Tom McCawley, Dr. Andrew Forrest, and Dr. Jessica Stilley-Mallah. I have no doubt they will represent us well. 

 One of my goals this year is to grow our membership, especially by recruiting younger colleagues. While the rest of us get a little long in the tooth, we will need new members to ensure our association thrives and our specialty in the state of Florida remains strong. If there are young periodontists considering joining the FAP, please encourage them to do so. To the younger periodontists that are already members- trust me when I say that you chose a great profession, and in my mind, the right specialty. I can’t imagine another career that I would rather be doing. Your training, expertise, and surgical skill will set you apart. Patients recognize competence, and when they know they are in good hands, they will pay with a smile—and then send their friends.

 In closing, I will leave you with this: the future of periodontics is very bright. We all have the opportunity to do what we love every day. As Walt Whitman wrote:

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine,

and shadows will fall behind you.”