The proposed change in advertising specialty status is far too broad to be considered.  I am strongly opposed to this change as it creates more confusion for the public who relies on the Virginia Board of Dentistry to ensure safety.  The risks of this proposal far outweigh the benefits and I agree with all the reasonse stated by other members in this forum.  It is my opinion that our rules on advertising are not strong enough and there has been little enforcement of the current statue.  Those in favor of the proposed changes have a great responsibility to ensure their wishes for recognition do not undermine the ethics of dentistry and do not place the public at greater risk.  The current proposal does not effectively meet those goals.  Raising the advertising restrictions would be negligent.