"Do no harm" is a core tenant of dental ethics. As a recent graduate, I cannot express how many times this was stressed to us throughout dental school. This proposed legislation is terrifying. Throughout dental school, the most I ever did on a patient orthodontically in a clinical setting was to untie their braces so that they could brush. I had a passion for orthodontics from early on, and sought out orthodontic experiences, but I know for a fact that my colleagues who were focused on graduating had little to no experience over their 4 years of dental school. A simple weekend course is not nearly enough to be able to claim that you are competent at treatment planning, treating, and educating patients in regards to their orthodontic treatment.

A patient is not aware of the amount of time and effort that goes into learning these topics throughout dental school. The board of dentistry's job is to provide patients with information in a way that they can understand. In order to protect the patient from being misinformed, there must be a way to differentiate doctors who are qualified and those who just claim they are. This is the only way to ensure we are not harming our patients.