They didn’t phone it in.

They pledged to dedicate themselves to patients, community, and the profession; to pursue lifelong learning grounded in evidence; to conduct themselves with integrity and empathy; and to leave a legacy of service, equity, and unwavering compassion.

Their words went well beyond a ceremonial script. They are a statement of identity. As I listened, what struck me most was how familiar their pledge felt, how clearly it reflected the same professional “WHY” that has animated Washington dentists for generations. It’s the reason you pushed through the hardest years of training, the reason you suit up every day for your patients, and the reason you pursue excellence even when no one is watching.

Their oath will be repeated each year by every incoming PNWU dental class. That means the words they wrote will become the tradition and the standard for the newest dental school in our state. The question for the rest of us is simple: What kind of support will they see from the profession they are pledging to serve?

We know what sustained support can do, because Washington has lived it.

For decades, organized dentistry has stood behind the University of Washington School of Dentistry —supporting students, strengthening programs, investing in excellence, and helping shape a school that has trained thousands of Washington dentists. That support will continue.

Now, our state is entering a new era of dental education. PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine is here, its first class is already on the path, and its Yakima campus will serve as home base for first-year dental students for years to come.

That’s why WSDA and the WSDA Foundation are asking the state’s dental community to step forward—together—to support the Campaign for Dental Futures: A Tribute to the Work of Dr. Linda Edgar.

Through this campaign, the WSDA Foundation has pledged $1 million to help underwrite the Simulation Lab at PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine. This Simulation Lab will be a central training venue for students — one of the most important places where skill, confidence, and clinical judgment are built long before students begin chairside care.

And it will carry deep meaning.

The Simulation Lab will be named in honor of ADA Past President Dr. Linda Edgar, recognizing a Washington leader who represents the very best of organized dentistry. The lab will also include WSDA name and logo recognition inside the space, providing visible, enduring proof that organized dentistry showed up for student doctors and the communities they ultimately will serve.

This is more than a facility investment. It’s a values investment.

Dentistry’s day-to-day grind is real and starts during dental education. The flame of professionalism can flicker under the weight of this grind. That’s why WSDA exists: to take on the fights that must be fought, to build communities of learners and peers, and to help fuel the flame across our entire professional community, all so it’s easier for individual dentists to carry the weight.

It’s time to extend that same commitment to the students who are just beginning.

One line from their oath stuck with me: “In every challenge, I will find purpose.” If we want that purpose to endure across a career, then our profession must do what it does best when the water gets rough: row together.

So here is our call to action: Please contribute to the Campaign for Dental Futures through the WSDA Foundation. Your gift will help build a signature learning environment to help shape PNWU dental students for decades — while honoring Dr. Linda Edgar’s legacy. It will also make organized dentistry’s support unmistakable to every future dentist who walks into that lab.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE CAMPAIGN