The role of the American Board of Orthodontics in advanced dental education

Abstract

From its inception, the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) has attempted to elevate the standard of orthodontic care. In 1929, one of the board’s first directors, the eminent Dr Martin Dewey, stated that the ABO’s primary objective was to “stimulate and promote the spirit of research and self-improvement among students and practitioners of orthodontics.” The ABO has always believed that the education of proficient clinicians originates at the most basic level—that of the student. Yet a distinct boundary between the board and the autonomy of the advanced dental education programs has been historically respected by the ABO. For example, in 1964, when the Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association (ADA) approached ABO President Frank Bowyer for “guidance in matters pertaining to orthodontic education,” Dr Bowyer declined and emphasized that the ABO would limit its educational influence to assessing the results of education rather than developing educational requirements. This philosophy within the ABO has endured and remains respected today. Via liaisons with the American Association of Orthodontists’ (AAO) Council on Orthodontic Education and the ADA Council on Dental Education, the ABO’s input to quality of education is both solicited and offered. As present and former members of both committees will attest however, the ABO intentionally makes no attempt to modify program duration or content. Although the ABO offers a list of recommended publications in preparation for its written examination, the board believes that specifics of educational programs are not within its domain and are best left to other special-interest groups in organized dentistry and dental education. Concurrent with the ABO’s restructuring of its certi-