FTC Staff Comment Before the Commission on Dental Accreditation Concerning Proposed Accreditation Standards for Dental Therapy Education Programs

FTC staff submitted a comment to CODA, in response to CODA’s request for public comments on the 2014 version of its proposed accreditation standards for dental therapy education programs. The comment urged CODA to finalize and adopt accreditation standards, which likely will benefit consumers. In a previous comment to CODA in December 2013, FTC staff commended CODA’s then-proposed standards as an important first step in encouraging the development of a nationwide dental therapy profession, and recommended revisions to portions of the standards that may have limited competition for dental services. Now that many of those concerns had been addressed, the FTC staff comment urged CODA “to finalize and adopt proposed standards without unnecessary delay, so that the development of this emerging service model can proceed, and consumers can reap the likely benefits of increased competition.”