Dental Implant Organization Files Suit Challenging How Texas Recognizes Dental Specialties
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) March 11, 2014 -- The American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) filed suit in Federal District Court in Austin, Texas (Case 1:14-cv-00191) on Wednesday, March 5, 2014 challenging the constitutionality of a regulation promulgated by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners that limits dentists from advertising to the public as “specialists.”
The regulation in question delegates the authority to determine “specialties” and which dentists can call themselves “specialists” to the American Dental Association, a private trade association over which the Texas Board of Dental Examiners has no control. Specialty recognition is entirely determined within the ADA through a political process carried out by competitor dentists, with no opportunity for review or appeal by any licensed dentist in Texas. The regulation - Texas Administrative Code Sec. 108.54 - is available online here.
The AAID was joined in the lawsuit by three other organizations that issue bona fide credentials and certifications in various areas of dentistry, such as implant dentistry, dental anesthesia, orofacial pain, and oral medicine. The plaintiff organizations are the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists, the American Academy of Oral Medicine and the American Academy of Orofacial Pain. Five individual Texas licensed dentists are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs allege that the regulation "violates several constitutional guarantees to Texas dentists, including the right to due process, equal protection under the law and the right to free speech.
Established in 1951, the AAID is the only dental implant organization that offers credentials recognized by state and federal courts as being bona fide. Its membership, which exceeds 4,600, includes general dentists, oral surgeons, periodontists, and prosthodontists from across the United States and in more than 60 other countries. For more information about the AAID and its credentialed members, please visit http://www.aaid.com or http://www.aaid-implant.org, or call 312.335.1550.
For more information about the lawsuit, please contact Dr. Frank Recker directly at recker(at)ddslaw.com or (800) 224-3529.
Frank Recker, American Academy of Implant Dentistry, http://www.aaid.com, +1 (800) 224-3529 Ext: 1, [email protected]
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