Recently, two articles appeared in The Journal that addressed two specific problem areas within the profession. While there might well be an element of "cause and effect" between "Those Who Can, Do" (Editorial, April JADA) and "The War on Fraud and Its Effect on Dentistry" (February JADA), money appears to be, at the very least, a common factor in both articles.
Both issues pose the question: Where is the profession going from here? The "teaching issue" partly addressed this concern, but the "fraud issue" did little to instill confidence in the profession’s interest in integrity.
One way for the profession to send a strong message to all concerned would be to cooperate with the investigative/prosecuting agencies through the expansion of peer-review committee responsibilities.
Since the time involved for any one member would average between 10 and 20 hours per year at most (many members would not be needed), this should be a pro bono gesture provided by the profession to protect the many honest dentists as well as the public from the unscrupulous minority.
While such a system would require strict confidentiality guidelines, unpaid peer-review committee members, working under a form of anonymity, would not be considered "hired guns" and could do much to restore integrity to dentistry, while legitimately raising public confidence in the profession.
