---
title: "What Is American Dental Association? Dental Practice Glossary"
description: "The national professional association of dentists in the United States, with a stated mission to help dentists succeed and support the advancement of the health..."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/american-dental-association
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Organized dentistry

# American Dental Association

The national professional association of dentists in the United States, with a stated mission to help dentists succeed and support the advancement of the health of the public.

The American Dental Association, or ADA, is the national association of dentists in the United States. It states that its mission is to help dentists succeed and support the advancement of the health of the public. The ADA also reports more than 152,000 members and says it has worked for more than 160 years.

Its structure has three levels: the national ADA, state groups called [constituent societies](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/constituent-society) and local [component dental societies](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/component-dental-society). Its policy body is the [House of Delegates](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/house-of-delegates).

The ADA is a main part of organized dentistry. It publishes research, practice resources and the Code of Ethics. This entry is a general definition only.

[Next stepIndustry work with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=industry)

## Related terms

-   [ADA](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/ada)
-   [Organized dentistry](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/organized-dentistry)
-   [House of Delegates](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/house-of-delegates)
-   [Constituent society](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/constituent-society)
-   [Code of ethics](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/code-of-ethics)

## Sources

1.  [ADA, About the ADA](https://www.ada.org/about)
2.  [ADA, National, state and local dental societies](https://www.ada.org/about/volunteer-and-get-involved-with-the-ada/national-state-local-dental-societies)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)