Orthodontic education. Portending its future?

Orthodontic education. Portending its future ? Perry M. Opin, DDS, MScD Mil/ford, Conn. A dangerous trend in orthodontic education has just hit home--hard. The Department of Orthodontics at the University of Connecticut has been combined with the Department of Pediatric Dentistry into a new Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. How frightening! The state of Connecticut is in a real fiscal and financial crunch, not unlike other New England states. Over the past several years the budget to the School of Dentistry has been cut, forcing layoffs, cutbacks, and belt tightening. In an attempt to balance this budget, the dean of the dental school decided, as part of his fiscal plan, that the two smallest independent departments would necessarily need to be combined under one department head, but with separate s This merger came to be at the University o f Connecticut's Board of Trustees' meeting in June of 1991. The proposed merger of the two departments became public knowledge at the annual Connecticut State Dental meeting in April of this year. The response of the state orthodontists was overwhelming. Never have I seen complacency swept aside as quickly and completely. Support for the independence of the proud Department of Orthodontics was voiced to a man. Letters, meetings, phone calls of concern, and support came from the complete quiltwork of orthodontic organizations including the president of NESO, president of the Connecticut State Orthodontic Association, the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontics, the president of the Alumni Association of the Orthodontic Department of the University of Connecticut, and many other concerned organizations and individuals representing both the private and academic side of orthodontics. Robert Vanarsdall, chairman and professor of the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote the following: "Orthodontics at Connecticut is a respected dep',frtment at the national and international level. Uniting orthodontics with pediatric _ dentistry is a European concept that he considered outdated and is detrimental to dental education at all levels. This move by such an outstanding program would send an unfortunate message to educators and all dentists. It has the potential to limit your ability to recruit 0889-5406193151.00 + 0.10

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orthodontic students in the future and orthodontic faculty immediately. In 1976-77 (Pennsylvania) only had six applicants to its postdoctoral program. (Alumni) also expressed their displeasure by dramatically decreasing annual giving, discontinuing participation in continuing education, and ignoring alumni functions. Pennsylvania combined pedodontics and orthodontic departments in 1973. We spent a decade reversing that decision." A. Robert Johnson, president of the American Association of Orthodontists added, "This arrangement will have a very negative effect on (University of Connecticut's) dental school's ability to recruit nationally recognized orthodontic educators in the future. "We would further support our view that such restructuring has no merit by informing you that major treatment trends of orthodontists are not compatible with this type of organization. Today's orthodontist is deeply involved with the treatment of adults, temporomandibular dysfunction, reconstructive and adjunctive therapy with periodontics and prosthodontics, orthognathic surgery, and correction of functional irregularities that are fundamental to oral health. In fact, proper dental function and alignment are secondary only to health of the periodontium as a need for general health." Politics is supposed to be a science of compromise, the art of the deal. Clearly, no compromise occurred, although, in my letter to Dean Kennedy, I suggested "that before this merger becomes a fait accompli, a subcommittee be formed to study boththe financial and the academic aspects of this merger in its entirety." I think it is fair to say that neither the Department of Pediatric Dentistry nor the Department of Orthodontics is entirely happy with this merger. There is always the fear of the unknown. To combine these departments cannot help but water down and detract from both! Unfortunately, all our efforts were fruitless. The merger has taken place. So now we have to look to the future. Clearly, it is uncertain. Hopefully the sensitivities of the faculty and all of the students of the Orthodontic Department at the University of Connecticut will be of paramount importance. It would be a tragedy if, because of economics and politics, this world-renowned Department of Orthodontics is diminished in any way. Let us hope our fears are not realized. 69

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Am. J. Orthod. Dentofac. Orthop. JanuatT 1993

A postscript Subsequent to this report the following has occurred: I. Charles Burstone retired as of July 1, 1992. His new title is Professor Emeritus. Dr. Burstone states he will continue to carry his share of the teaching load. 2. Ravi Nanda has been appointed rotating Division Chief. 3. Louis Norton remains Graduate Program Director. 4. Allegedly one of the reasons for tile merger is for the the school to save money. Among its plans were to revamp the clinical facility. This would combine the departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics in the same facility, each department using this facility at different

times. The advantages would be more flexibility, increased chair efficiency, and more assistants available so that more work could be completed in an efficient manner. The revamping of the facility may not occur because of costs in a tight budget. 5. The number of part-time teachers has been increased. This will help broaden the orthodontic students clinical exposure. 6. This combined merger is to be reviewed at an indeterminate time. The purpose of the review is to study all aspects of the merger and see how it is working. The merger of the Pedodontic and Orthodontic Departments may portend the direction of other departments in this country. Whether or not this change is for the betterment of orthodontics, only time will tell.

AA| MEETING CALENDAR

1993--Toronto, Canada, May 15 to 19, Metropolitan Toronto Convention Center 1994--Orlando, Fla., May 1 to 4, O(ange County Convention and Civic Center 1995--San Francisco, Calif., May 7to 10, Moscone Convention Center

(International Orthodontic Congress) 1996--Denver, Colo., May 12 to 16, Colorado Convention Center 1997--Philadelphia, Pa., May 3 to 7, Philadelphia Convention Center 1998--Dallas, Texas, May 16 to 20, Dallas Convention Center 1999--San Diego, Calif., May 15 to 19, San Diego Convention Center