The new American Board of Orthodontics certification process: further clarification.

The American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) has welcomed questions about the new process of achieving board certification and recertification since announcing these changes in March 2005. To increase transparency and facilitate an understanding of the board’s intent, we provide the following supplemental information. The ABO is responsible to 3 main interest groups: the public, the dental profession, and the orthodontic specialty. All are integral participants in the board’s ultimate purpose of improving the quality of orthodontic specialty care. The ABO’s vision is that all educationally qualified orthodontists should demonstrate competency by completing the ABO certification process at the end of their formal orthodontic education and continue to maintain specialty board certification by periodic reexamination. The emphasis in this process is recertification as a means of continuous clinical assessment throughout an orthodontist’s career. The ABO’s original 1930 Charter of Incorporation addressed the board’s responsibility to the public by apprising the general population of the professional capabilities of an orthodontist. In the past 75 years, the board has publicly represented the specialty as a peerreview organization for determining professional competency. In so doing, the board has hoped to favorably influence the overall quality of orthodontic specialty care. The premier intent of elevating the level of care received by our trusting public is the motivational impetus for instituting the new board process. To the dental profession, the ABO affirms that the orthodontic specialty has an instrument to critically