To be a member of a professional dental organization the basic qualifications are to have graduated from an accredited dental school, one may or may not need to be a licensed or a practicing dentist, and/or one may be involved in either clinical or research activities. Membership requires paying a membership fee and may or may not require current members to vote on your acceptance into the organization.
Membership does not mean that your level of education or advanced training exceeds anything beyond a first-year graduate dentist. Some organizations have levels of accomplishments based on the voluntary participation of the dentists to seek advanced training. Only a few dentists ever commit the time or financial resources to achieve these higher levels of advanced training.
To understand the work involved in earning credentials versus just having membership in a basic dental organization, please review below each of the following levels of training (credentials) that Dr. Paris has accomplished.
According to the American Board of Periodontology, a Diplomate is "a periodontist who has made significant achievements beyond the mandatory educational requirements of the specialty and who is certified by the American Board of Periodontology." Board certification requires certification as a dentist, a periodontist, passing comprehensive qualifying written examinations, passing a comprehensive oral examination performed by a group of nationally recognized periodontists, and recertification every six years. For more information, please visit abperio.org.
Diplomates of the ICOI must have completed 60 implant cases, including 200 or more individual implants or ancillary procedures. Doctors specializing in implant restoration must also have completed 100 or more implant restoration cases. Additionally, many of the specified cases must be at least five years old and should be of an advanced nature utilizing advanced procedures and techniques. The Doctor must also undergo an oral interview describing cases in detail and must participate in the ICOI Diplomate examination. Finally, the Doctor must provide documentation of at least 150 continuing education hours in implant courses, have authored or co-authored articles or case reports on implant dentistry or present lectures on implant-related topics, and provide letters of recommendation. For more information visit ICOI.org.
The Implant Prosthodontic Section of the ICOI offers practitioners and laboratory technicians a focused environment for implant restorative education. In order to achieve Mastership status, candidates must provide a listing of 40 completed implant cases at least 12 months old and meet the strict requirements for case documentation. Candidates must also have completed 100 continuing education hours in implant courses in the preceding five years, must be in good standing with the ICOI, and either presented two presentations to the ICOI or served on a ICOI committee for at least one year. Once achieved, Masters must accumulate 100 additional hours or more of implant education within five years. Doctors who have achieved Mastership are recognized as those who have challenged themselves in the field of implant prosthodontics by developing the skills, knowledge, experience and training to properly plan, design, fabricate and deliver implant supported prostheses. For more information, visit ICOI.org.
To obtain a Mastership, doctors must have achieved Advanced Proficiency Certification from the Academy of Laser Dentistry. Candidates must also have completed at least 100 hours of continuing laser education as approved by the ALD. Thereafter, Masters must complete 50 hours of continuing education approved by the academy every five years, during which they must attend at least two annual conferences. Masters must remain in good standing with the ALD. For more information visit laserdentistry.org.
Mastership status of the AGD requires 1100 hours of FAGD/MAGD-approved continuing dental education, 400 of which must be in participation courses. Six hundred hours must be earned in specific disciplines. Prior to completing Mastership, the doctor must have already achieved Fellowship status and must be in good standing with the AGD. For more information, visit agd.org.
Fellows of the ICOI must have completed and fully documented 20 implant cases at least 1 year old, and must provide copies of pre-operative and post-operative x-rays and treatment plans to the ICOI. Fellows must also have completed 75 hours or more of implant education within the last five years. Fellows must accumulate 75 hours of continuing implant education after achieving Fellowship, attend at least one ICOI conference every three years and be in good standing with the ICOI.
To hold Fellowship status one must have a current dental license in good standing for the past five years and completed 500 hours of FAGD/MAGD-approved continuing education credit. Doctors must also complete an extensive Fellowship examination. For more information, visit agd.org.
Dr. Paris has earned a Master of Science in Dentistry from Baylor University. His thesis research project was "Laser Applications and Periodontal Therapy Using a Dye-Laser." This was the first research project in the U.S. to examine a correlation between lasers and periodontal therapy. For more information about Baylor's Dentistry program, visit baylor.edu.
The Graduate Program in Microbiology and Immunology focuses on three areas of study – molecular and cellular immunology, molecular and biochemical microbiology, and eukaryotic and prokaryotic molecular genetics – and is highly interactive. There are extensive collaborative interactions of the faculty within the program with other faculty of the School of Medicine and the University, and with investigators in other institutions. The Microbiology faculty and program is strongly committed to maintaining an excellent graduate program, to creating a strong academic environment and promoting continued research.
To achieve a licensure, one must obtain a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Chemistry, Biology, Immunology, or Microbiology and three years full time acceptable clinical laboratory experience in the specialty in an accredited U.S. clinical laboratory. To fulfill the experience requirement for the Specialist in Microbiology examination, you must have experience, within the last ten years, in bacteriology and 3 of 4 of the following areas:
For more information visit ascp.org.
To obtain status as a Registered Microbiologist, one must have a minimum of a baccalaureate degree and three years of full-time work experience in a microbiology laboratory related to the specialty area in which certification would be granted. Applicants must also undergo a comprehensive written exam pertaining to research laboratory techniques and procedures and sterilization methods.
For more information, visit https://asm.org/.
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