Regulations and Guidelines

• The Table Clinic presentation must be submitted in an electronic format (PDF or Powerpoint). Exact format and electronic submission instructions will be posted soon. Please check back periodically over the next few weeks. Applicants will also be notified with the submission details are posted. (See category details, below).  
• Must be a technique theory or concept that a dentist or staff may use to improve their clinical dentistry which fits into one of the following categories: Dental Student: Scientific, Clinical, Community; RDA; or Military/Resident.  
• For RDH presentations, please see CDHA’s site for guidelines.  
• Must be purely scientific/clinical and free from all commercialism.
• Must be shown or demonstrated completely within 5 to 7 minutes and repeated many times during the judging competition and the public viewing.  
•  Must include a title.
• Must contain an identified and researched problem, hypothesis, methods, and processes conducted study, results, and conclusion.
• Graphs, tables and charts are to be used for data clarification.
• Business attire is recommended for all presenters.
• APPLICANTS MUST BE PRESENT DURING THE COMPETITION AND PUBLIC VIEWING. All dentists applying must be CDA/ADA members (if eligible for membership). Dental students must be members of CDA or ASDA. Every applicant must be a member of organized dentistry.  
• Student presenters must be prepared to answer questions from the judge as well as attendees during public viewing. If the student presenter is unable to answer a particular question, they should say so immediately.  
• No one, other than the student presenters and judges are permitted in the presentation area during judging. Students must remain at their assigned area during the entire judging competition unless otherwise specified by the chairperson. 

Requests for additional information or clarification of regulations should be forwarded to the Board prior to the competition. Table Clinic confirmation will be forwarded to the applicant after approval of the application.

Presenter Categories:

• RDA, DA
• Dental Students
• Military/Resident

TRADE NAMES: Promotion of any product or service by trade name is absolutely prohibited. Drugs and products mentioned in the presentation must be identified by chemical formulas, by generic name, or generic identifiers such as Product A, Product B, etc. Trade names may only be used for identification and clarification purposes. Should the use of trade names be advantageous to the attendee understanding of the presentation, the rationale must be submitted in writing to the Board.

ADVERTISING SALES: Distribution of advertising or commercial promotional materials is strictly prohibited. Violation of this requirement will automatically disqualify a presentation. It is permissible to use trade names (brand or company) for identification purposes only during the public viewing (non-judging) portion of the poster presentations.

PATIENT DEMONSTRATION: Live models will not be permitted.

LIABILITY: Although the Board provides security personnel to guard the exhibit hall on a 24-hour basis, neither the Board nor CDA nor the proprietor nor the operator of the exhibit hall can assume liability for damage or loss of goods or property of a presenter. Therefore, each presenter who submits an application that is accepted by the Board expressly releases and agrees to hold harmless the Board, CDA and the proprietor of the operator of the exhibit hall from any and all liability for damage or loss to their goods or property.  

Judges are looking for timely and relevant research that is organized and presented within the time limit provided. Presenters need to have the ability to answer questions, have a quality presentation and readable electronic poster, and be professionally dressed.   

The student competitions are reserved for undergraduate students only. Judges are volunteer dental professionals from CDA component dental societies throughout the state. All student presenters must be present during public viewing and are required to stay until 2:00 p.m. 

SCHOOL IDENTIFICATION: School identification must be obscured during judging. When table clinics are open for public viewing, school identification may be displayed. 

For RDH presentations, please see CDHA’s site. 

PRIZES: First-prize winners will have their abstract published in a future issue of the CDA Journal. Other prizes will be distributed following the end of the conference. 

DENTAL STUDENTS & DENTAL ASSISTING: Judging is from 8:30 – 11:20 a.m. on Friday, May 16, 2025. Clinics not prepared for judging and public viewing will be disqualified. The Dental Student and Dental Assisting clinics will be open for public viewing from 12:00 noon to 2 p.m. on Friday, May 16, 2025. 

MILITARY / RESIDENT: Judging is from 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Clinics not prepared for judging and public viewing will be disqualified. Military/Resident clinics will be open for public viewing from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, 2025. 

RDH: Judging is from 9:15  – 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 16, 2025, at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim. 

Judge Schedule

Date: Friday, May 16, 2025

Judges for categories: Dental Students (clinical, scientific and community) & Dental Assisting

• 7:30 – 8:15 a.m. Breakfast & Orientation (Judges only)
• 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. Judging
• 11:30 – Noon Awards Ceremony/Photographs
• Noon – 2 p.m. Public Viewing

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025

Judges for category: Military/Resident

• 7:30 – 8:15 a.m. Breakfast & Orientation (Judges only)
• 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. Judging
• 11:30 – Noon Awards Ceremony/Photographs
• Noon – 2 p.m. Public Viewing

The California Dental Association is collaborating with the California Dental Hygienists’ Association (CDHA) for the RDH portion of Table Clinics. The CDHA competition will be held on Friday, May 16, 2025, location TBA. Visit the CDHA website to review guidelines and additional information on the RDH competition.