I heard that once a dentist has a licensed specialty they can only practice within their specialty. For example, a pediatric dentist can only treat children and an orthodontist cannot do fillings or root canals. Does anyone know if this is true? Or if there are legal guidelines you have to follow once you specialize?
It depends on the rules of the state in which you are licensed. I have a specialty license in Nevada, which means that I cannot practice outside the scope of my specialty. I also have a license in Texas which simply is a dental license (they do not have specialty licenses), so I guess I would not be limited to doing a filing, for example. Of course it would be "highly frowned upon" as stated above and you would also run a liability risk I suppose. Why would you do this anyway?
If you want to see an example of this, google Ben Burris. He's an orthodontist in Alabama that is doing prophies in his practices and the general dentists are trying to stop him. Interesting stuff and really not the same as doing endo as an ortho, but ultimately it comes down to the state board because they control the license under which you practice.
Thanks for your insight guys! After reading up on Ben Burris I understand this a little better.
I applied to schools this cycle and even though I am in absolutely no position to be potentially choosing a specialty anytime soon, I like to dream especially with the suspense of this cycle dwindling down. I am interested in pediatrics and orthodontics but I really want to provide a lot of services to people who need them. Especially through missions work. When I heard about this it made me second guess specializing and put more consideration into general dentistry so I wanted to be sure I was getting the right information.
There are people that do Pedo and Ortho in their practices. I don't know how that works with licenseing, but those are the two specialties that make sense to combine. There is even an article in the current Orthodontic Products about this. It is possible to combine these two, so don't give up yet! http://www.orthodonticproductsonline.com/2014/11/tale-two-passions/
That was a great article! I had no idea that you could go to school for multiple specializations. I did some looking around on her practice's website and it looks like there is another pediatric dentist working there who is also currently an attending for oral surgery. Very interesting way to look at dentistry. Thanks!!
