ABO certification in the age of evidence and enhancement.

Full Abstract

The American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) phase III certification examination was originally constructed and recently modified to "help the Board determine the candidate's knowledge of clinical orthodontics and provide a basis to assess the quality of the candidate's clinical treatment results." For the most part, the ABO phase III examination measures the orthodontic treatment-induced changes in occlusion in a limited and biased patient sample. The process and outcome measures used in the current model-the discrepancy index and the objective grading system-are so narrowly focused that an orthodontist might lack up-to-date clinical knowledge, psychomotor and critical thinking skills, diagnostic acumen, patient management ability, and patient-centered ethics, and still pass the examination largely because of mechanically morphing the patient's teeth into the board's construct of ideal occlusion. The goal of this article is to provide provocative insight into the core concepts that drive the ABO phase III certification process and to recommend an alternative paradigm predicated on a patient-centered, evidence-based clinical practice model.

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Author information

Author/s: Ackerman, Marc B (MB); Rinchuse, Daniel J (DJ); Rinchuse, Donald J (DJ);

Affiliation: School of Dentistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa, USA. ackersmile(-atsign-)aol.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Validation Studies

Journal: American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics : official publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, its constituent societies, and the American Board of Orthodontics (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 130 (issue 2) : pp 133-40

Dates: Created 2006/08/14; Completed 2006/08/21; Revised 2006/12/05;

PMID: 16905056, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2006 Nov;130(5):563-5; author reply 565. (PMID: 17110247)

CommentIn: Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2006 Nov;130(5):563; author reply 563. (PMID: 17110245)

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