Expected Changes in Regulation and Licensure: Influence on Future Education of Dentists

This article is based on the following assumptions about dental care in the United States: there is an access to oral health care problem; the number of individuals with dental insurance is increasing; the demographics of the dental profession does not mirror the overall demographics of the U.S. population; and emerging oral health workforce models may help improve access to care. Based on these assumptions, this article explores related licensure and regulatory factors that will influence the education and practice of dentists in the future. The issues discussed are licensure of emerging oral health practitioners, mobility of the dental health care workforce, corporate ownership of dental practices, ethical issues related to use of human subjects in dental licensure examinations, interprofessional education and practice, and health care reform. The licensure and regulatory bodies discussed are the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), state legislatures and boards of dentistry, federal legislative activities, judicial activities, and the Federal Trade Commission. Recommendations based on this discussion are presented. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21^st Century."