At its March 12, 2021 meeting, the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (TSDBE) adopted regulations related to specialty advertising. The language adopted is similar to language the AAO proposed during the rulemaking process that began in March 2016.
In January 2016, the United States District Court ruled that a Texas administrative regulation that restricted specialties in Texas to only those recognized by the American Dental Association was unconstitutional. As a result, states with similar language started to revise their specialty advertising laws, and the ADA created the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards. In March 2016, the TSDBE began the rulemaking process to create new specialty rules, and the AAO participated and offered public comment. The AAO is supportive of the language the TSDBE passed this year, and we are proud to have taken the lead in proposing new specialty advertising language for states to consider. You can view the new rules here.
The Texas Association of Orthodontists was the first state component to apply for Component Legal Support Funding. Since then, the AAO has become a trusted source of information for dental boards that look to revise their specialty laws. The AAO has provided public comment on specialty advertising issues in 17 states.
Since Texas submitted the first CLSF application for specialty advertising in 2016, the AAO has advocated in 39 states and 2 provinces on behalf of our members. Remember, every orthodontist (as a citizen of and licensed dental provider in his or her state) and every patient has the right, independently and individually, to express his or her opinion on any dental issue to his or her state dental board.
