38 Countries Can’t All Be Wrong

Editorial When I was asked to write an editorial for the journal, my first reaction was 'What do I have to say that needs to be in the form of an editorial? " Fortunately, I was preparing to attend the 16 th International Congress of Dento Maxillo Facial Radiology in Beijing, where I was to present an invited paper on The Status of Oral and Maxillofa-cial Radiology Worldwide in 2007. I have been interested in this topic for over thirty years, when I, as a third year resident in Oral Radiology at the University of Toronto, was asked by the president of the American Academy of Dental Radiology, Professor Coleman Reed Tuckson, to look into the status of Dental Radiology in Canada. As a direct result of my gathering the information the organization now called The Canadian Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology was founded. I was made chair of the specialty committee, and on behalf of the academy applied to the Canadian Dental Association for specialty recognition for Oral Radiology. This was granted in 1973. At that time Oral and Max-illofacial Radiology was recognized in India, and maybe two or three other countries, where the record of which year recognition was granted has been lost. In 1999, I was co-chair of the specialty committee of the American Academy of Oral and Max-illofacial Radiology which, after four applications, received specialty recognition from the American Dental Association. By that time the total number of countries recognizing Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology had climbed to at least 15. And this trend has continued. Today Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, by whatever name it is known, is recognized in one form or other in at least 38 countries, from most of the Americas through North Europe, and via large parts of Af-rica, the Middle East and Asia to Australia. And there are applications pending in four additional countries. The reason for this is obvious to anyone who is deeply involved in radiology. Dentistry has evolved from a profession that concentrated only on restoration and extraction of the teeth, to a profession that sees its responsibility extending, by way of the entire maxillofacial region, to diseases and treatment in much of the head and neck, a profession whose treatment ranges from prevention of dental diseases through placement of implants as a more sophisticated way to treat tooth loss, to one that sees its relationship to the …