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Last week the American Dental Association signaled to the world that henceforth any man or woman licensed to practise dentistry in the U. S. will be well-educated, well-trained. Beginning next September no student will be admitted to any one of the 38 first-class U. S. dental schools unless he has had at least two years of college education. He will not get his Doctorate of Dental Surgery until he has passed four more years grounding himself in such medical fundamentals as anatomy, pathology, diagnosis, hygiene, as well as the special dental problems of jaws, gums and teeth. If the student in a medical school puts similar emphasis on the mouth, and its contents, he may call himself a stomatologist (mouth expert), as does Dentist Miner when he teaches at Boston University School of Medicine. When he teaches at Harvard University's Dental School, Stomatologist Miner becomes Professor of Clinical Oral Surgery.
To insure that all graduates of U. S. dental schools will henceforth be competent dentists, the A. D. A. last week forced a reorganization of the Dental Educational Council of America. That Council, now composed of teachers in dental schools, State examiners for dental licensure, and one practicing dentist, has, according to the A. D. A., proved incompetent in promoting good educational standards in the dental schools. In the face of vigorous criticism that "dental education was being placed in the hands of politicians of the American Dental Association," a new Council on Dental Education & Infirmaries, dominated by practicing dentists in the A. D. A., was organized last week and told to get busy at once. Among its duties it was ordered: 1) "to investigate and report on dissensions between dental schools and units of organized dentistry"; 2) "to find out why it is not possible for students to transfer from one Class A dental school to another"; 3) "to interest State Legislatures and private capital in the adequate support and endowment of dental education"; 4) "to study plans for the examination and listing of specialists."
The following, the A. D. A. decided last week, are authentic dental specialties: exodontia, oral surgery, periodontia (tissues surrounding teeth), orthodontia (straight teeth), prosthodontia (false teeth), pedodontia (children's teeth). To promote those specialties a vast array of national dental societies met in San Francisco last week or warmed up there the week before: American Dental Association, American Academy of Restorative Dentistry, American Academy of Periodontology, American Association of Dental Editors, American College of Dentists, American Society of Oral Surgeons & Exodontists, Association of American Women Dentists, Association of Military Dental Surgeons of the U. S., National Association of Dental Examiners, American Society for the Promotion of Children's Dentistry, American Dental Golf Association, American Dental Trapshooters' League, American Dental Hygienists' Association, American Dental Assistants Association, International Association for Dental Research, Psi Omega National Alumni Chapter. Delta Sigma Delta. Alpha Omega, Omicron Kappa Upsilon. International College of Dentists, American Society for the Promotion of Oral Diagnosis.