Advocacy in Action: AAE Leads Charge to Revise ADA Specialty Referral Guidelines

At the initiative of the AAE, seven dental specialties recently sent a letter to ADA President Dr. Carol Gomez Summerhays outlining serious concerns with the ADA’s Guidelines for Practice Success: Specialty Referrals. The guidelines were developed by the ADA’s Council on Dental Practice without dental specialty input. The letter details the shortcomings of the guidelines, starting with their lack of any mention of the nine ADA-recognized dental specialties, the significance of advanced specialty training, or the resources our organizations have available to patients and general dentists. Furthermore, the letter calls for a joint ad hoc committee – that includes representatives from the dental specialties – to be convened to consider revisions to the guidelines. In addition to the AAE, the letter was signed by the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, American Academy of Periodontology, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, American Association of Orthodontists and American College of Prosthodontists.

This is an issue the AAE will continue to press with the ADA. At a time when misleading information proliferates on the internet, the AAE expects the ADA to foster a clear understanding of the training and experience of dental specialists.