Dental Tribune U.S. Edition No.7, 2017

IMPLANT TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Implant Newspaper · U.S. Edition JULY 2017 — Vol. 12, No. 7 www.dental-tribune.com Court of appeals upholds AAID victory The United States Court of Ap- peals for the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion on June 19 affirming the lower court decision in fa- vor of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry’s position that the Texas rule on dental specialties is unconstitutional. As a result, the State of Texas, as well as Louisiana and Mississippi (part of the Fifth Circuit), are enjoined from enforcing provisions that prohibit dentists from ad- vertising as specialists in areas not recog- nized by the American Dental Association (ADA). The Federal District Court in Texas ruled that this “is an unconstitutional restric- tion on Plaintiff’s First Amendment right to free commercial speech.” The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court decision by a 2-1 majority. The lower court decision declared un- constitutional a Texas administrative reg- ulation Section 108.54 of the Texas Admin- istrative Code that restricted specialties in Texas to only those recognized by the A m e r i c a n Dental Asso- ciation was unconstitu- tional. The A m e r i c a n A c a d e m y of Implant D e n t i s t r y, along with three other dental or- ganizations and five indi- vidual Texas dentists, had filed suit chal- lenging the regulation. Dr. Frank Recker throughout the Fifth Circuit. More infor- mation will now be available to help them decide who to use for their dental needs,” said Dr. Shankar Iyer, president of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry. “Patients won’t need to guess whether a dentist who is trained in treating gum disease or extracting teeth is also experi- enced in the complex and comprehensive field of implant placement and restora- tion. Patients will now be able to seek out specialists in implant dentistry, such as those certified by AAID’s Certifying Board, the American Board of Oral Implantology/ Implant Dentistry(ABOI/ID),” he pointed out. The court of appeals wrote that “Section 108.54 completely prohibits the plaintiffs [AAID, etal] from advertising as special- ists in their fields soley because the ADA has not recognized their practice areas as specialties. The Board [Texas State Dental Board of Examiners] has not justified Sec- tion 108.54 with argument or evidence.” Dr. Arthur Molzan, president of the ABOI/ID agreed. “This affirmation by the court of appeals clearly validates the recognition of diplomate status earned through our board. Our requirements demand extensive knowledge of both the surgical as well as the restorative phases of implant dentistry.” “This is a major step forward for patients According to Frank Recker, DDS, JD, AAID’s general counsel: “This Court of Ap- peals decision continues a string of legal victories supporting the proposition that non-ADA recognized specialties in fact do exist, are bona fide, and dentists board certified in those fields – such as implant dentistry – may inform the public of their specialization.” Established in 1951, the AAID is the first organization in implant dentistry and the only one that offers credentials recog- nized by state and federal courts as being bona fide. Its membership, which exceeds 5,500, includes general dentists, oral sur- geons, periodontists and prosthodon- tists from across the United States and in more than 60 other countries. For more information about the AAID, visit aaid. com, aaid-implant.org or call (312) 335-1550. For more information about the law- suit and the decision, please contact Dr. Frank Recker directly at recker@ddslaw. com or (800) 224-3529. (Source: AAID) AD

Dental Tribune U.S. Edition No.7, 2017

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