Would you prefer allies who are well versed in theMarquess of Queensberry boxing rules – i.e. “a man on one knee is considereddown and if struck is entitled to the stakes” – or would you want to pair withthe fire-breathing, acerbic rascals who kick your opponents in their privatesand only then deign to discuss the rules of engagement?

The question is not merely rhetorical.

General dentists, particularly those who faithfully servetheir fearful and anxious patients using oral conscious sedation, have beenambushed by a gang of bullies.  Thisparticular gang may wear white overcoats and hang framed degrees on theirwalls, but nonetheless they are out to rob and rough up their victims asassuredly as any common hoodlums.

In this scenario, playing the role of the muggers are theAmerican Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) and somewell-placed members of the American Dental Association who seek to deprivedentists and their patients of the single safest, most effective, proven methodof treating dental-phobics – oral conscious sedation (OCS).

Like real mobsters, these big shots want hard-workinggeneral dentists to pay “protection” money, ostensibly to ensure publicsafety.  But those of us who saw allthree parts of The Godfather trilogy or watch The Sopranos know who are thereal beneficiaries of such “protection.”

By “protecting” the public from the “dangers” of OCS withthe superfluous, impractical and costly new proposed guidelines, what AAOMS andits friends at the ADA really crave is to protect their own influence andincomes from the growing popularity of OCS among general dentists and theirpatients. 

Have no illusions, the OCS battle is over turf, notsafety.

Against this backdrop, it is worth examining the methodsbeing used by organized dentistry to combat these very real professional thugs.

With few exceptions, the nobles of general dentistry arestill rolling up their sleeves and reviewing their rulebooks months after thebattle has been engaged.

And it’s not just the ADA that AAOMS and its pals areintimidating.  In various states aroundthe country, oral surgeons are putting the squeeze on dental regulators toadopt the rigid new ADA proposals, even before those proposals have beenapproved by the full ADA House of Delegates. General dentists in Maine, North Carolina, Massachusetts, California,Alabama and Minnesota already have had their rights to offer OCS severelychallenged by oral surgeons in their states.

If there ever was a time for Town Hall socials, surveys,polite and collegial dialogue, it is long since past. 

National dental organizations that are supposed to beprotecting their members’ rights and the public’s health by now should bethrowing punches, kicking and yelling, much as is TEAM 1500.  From the very start, TEAM 1500 has beenactively knocking heads in the scrum that is the struggle over the ADA’sproposed OCS guidelines.

To be honest, some dentists don’t like TEAM 1500’s styleof self-defense.  TEAM 1500 is not beinga “gentlemen” in the tactics it is using to respond to the nicely dressed andcoiffed muggers, some critics have written.

Indeed, recently, a major national dental organizationthat purportedly represents the interests of general dentists went out of itsway NOT to offer support to TEAM 1500, but to try and impugn TEAM 1500’stactics.

Come on, folks! Get real.

TEAM 1500 is not the villain in this play.

Quiet diplomacy has been tried time and again concerningOCS and other issues impacting general dentists with the same results.  The gentlemen boxers wind up knockedunconscious, bruised and robbed of their livelihoods.  And their patients suffer the consequences.

Combating the deeply entrenched powers of AAMOS and theADA isn’t for wimps or dilettantes. Battles get messy when the stakes are this important.

Sure, TEAM 1500 might overshoot sometimes in itszealousness to prevail on behalf of needy patients and dedicated dentists.  Get over it!

To our way of thinking, we’d rather land solid blows mostof the time – missing occasionally – than sit on the sidelines commentingself-righteously on the skills and manners of the combatants.

There is a role for in dentistry for gentlemanboxers.  But if they aren’t willing toengage an unscrupulous opponent, at the very least they should stay out of theway of those of us who will fight back when attacked.