Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2019 - 10

Trustee Report

general supervision. The proposed rule would
have included orthodontic tasks that hygienists
would have been able to perform under general
vs. close supervision. Approximately 15 Washington orthodontists attended the public hearings
and participated in the discussions and spoke
against the proposed rule revisions. In July 2019,
the Commission voted to accept the revised rules.
These state board and legislative "wins" do not
happen in a vacuum. They require the diligence
of members-members organized in component,
constituent, and national organizations. We
are stronger together than we are individually.
However, where do we stand with membership?
Mr. Brandon Hackworth, Director of AAO Membership, recently reported at the Board of Trustees
meeting in November that our US membership
currently stands at 84.9% of potential orthodontists. Brandon has recently "scrubbed" the data to
achieve this number. As noted, it does not currently include our Canadian members-the membership department is currently working on getting a
more accurate count of Canadian members.
Key takeaways from his recent presentation
include the following:

▫▫ There is a lower market share among females

▫▫

overall. The PCSO also "leads" by having the
lowest share among female orthodontists at
80.4%.
The PCSO currently (again, US members only
at this time) has an 81.6% market share-the
lowest among all eight constituents (the

▫▫

highest is the Midwestern Society of Orthodontists with 88.6%). If the PCSO gets 80 new
members, our market share would increase
to 85%.
California, the most populated state in the
country, has a market share of 79.1%. It should
also be noted that the bottom ten in AAO
market share among accredited orthodontic
programs include five (one half of the bottom
ten!) from the PCSO Constituent-Roseman,
the University of California Los Angeles, the
University of the Pacific, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and the University of Southern California.

These numbers are important because to be successful in our advocacy efforts, it takes members
with an interest (personal, certainly) in preserving
their way of practicing their chosen specialty and
protecting the health and safety of their patients.
Without dues-paying members, the AAO and our
component societies cannot fight the issues we
have currently won in states like California, Washington, and Oregon. I know this article is going
out to the "choir," but, if you have a colleague
who is not a member or thinking of dropping
their membership, please speak with him/her.
You may wish to discuss these recent "wins" as
an example of what the AAO and our component
societies are doing for THEM.
"You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting
for others to come to you. You have to go to them
sometimes"-from the sound advice of Winniethe-Pooh, one of the great philosophers.

PCSO Bulletin

Winter 2019

Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2019