Going from Fellow to Diplomate status with ICOI: Does it help?

If you are looking to advertise your hard earned credentials, the only ones that you can legally advertise by court order are from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry. If you are going to take the time to apply for Diplomate status, take the American Board of Oral Implantology exam spobsored by AAID. It's tough to get but, in the end, the only one worth the effort. RJM

Each state has legal requirements regarding "credentials". Let's go back to the ADA, there are no recognized implant specialists. Your prosthodontics boards are much more valuable than any implant boards. Remember that your prosthodontic training is far more valuable than any implant training. I can't get a diplomate status since I don't restore implants only place them in a team approach since I am a specialist and prefer to have a dds who restores implants regularly perform the restorations since they will do a better job than I would. I like to have the best practioner for the job, not worry about a turf war. If you want to be a diplomat then do it for the right educational reasons and for the enjoyment, not for the referrals. If you do beautiful work, your reputation will preceded you, not a diplomate status.

I just checked out the ICOI website, very impressive, I'm joining! I'm glad I answered your post, thanks doctor!

After 21 years I'm not sure if any certificate, degree, honor society diplomate status makes any difference. To date my single greatest source of referrals are my patients themselves. 18 years ago I became an AAP diplomate. I'm not sure if anyone cares or if anyone knows. If you're going to do this do it for yourself. By the way the one framed item I consistently get comments from my patients is an article the local paper did on a charity implant reconstruction case I did on a woman who had been a victim of domestic abuse. It probably cost me a lot less than the prep for the diplomate exam and I enjoyed doing it a lot more.

Periodrill is 100% correct. I hold Diplomate status with the Board of Periodontology and with the AAID's Board of Oral Implantology. The string of blah blah blahs after your name makes no difference in the real world of daily clinical practice. The knowledge and experience you gain in doing the work to earn the credential does help to make you more clinically competent. But how fair and honest you are when interacting with your staff, your patients, and your community is largely what determines success in private practice.

This is coming from a guy that supports the fact that these are not recognized as advanced degrees, but anything that gives you more knowledge and experience is going to better suit the industry, your practice and your patient's opinion of you. Bvinci

These are wonderful comments, thanks perio guys and bvinci. I believe that if we do things for the right reasons with a balance between education, training nd experience we will prosper. The diploma that patients notice the most is my undergrad college and we mainly talk about football!

Dr. Miller should consider some facts about what legal "status" the AAID has concerning advertising of credentials. The ABOI / ID is open to members of any implant society not just the AAID .In my personal opinion the AAID has paid a fortune to only discover our rights of free speech under the 1st amendment to our constitution. Nothing more...and with no applicability to dentists outside the US. Prior to that the AAID paid another fortune to a former US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Joseph A, Califano, Jr. when he was a member of the Washington law firm of Arnold and Porter, who "promised" that he would successfully guide the AAID to specialty status with the American Dental Association. Obviously this did not happen. It would seem to me that Dr.Miller's boasting rights are misguided. And how about commercial free speech ? I'm not sure anything more needs to be said but I would be happy to continue a dialogue. Dr. Kenneth Judy Co-Chaairman of the Board, ICOI

WoW ! What responses and fron Ken Judy himself! I went through Carl Misch"s surgical and prosthetic programs Fellowship and got interested in the ICOI and am working on their Diplomat Status for myself. I go to their annual meeting and usually get blown out of my seat , especially from the one in Orlando, glad I went!! I completed the post Grad program in Prosthodontics from my old alma in the midwest. I never was able to generate referrals from GP's and they felt like I was out there to" Scrape the Icing off their cake". I got referrals if the case was in litigation, some from insurance carriers and from the Military via Tricare. I eventually came to the conclusion that additional credentials, Board Certification, and Society memberships were pretty useless outside of personal enrichment and achedemic programs. I even wonder if a certificate from the LasVegas Cosmetic Dentistry Institute might be perceived as more credentialing by the general public than a Board approved University level program. I guess I'd have to agree with Periodrill and Perioperry

Periodrill and Perioperry are probably periodontist. No turf war..... I think not! I hold Diplomate status in both the ICOI and the ABOI and damn proud of it....let these two try it out and talk to me later!!!