In 2013, Dr. Ben Burris, a successful Arkansas orthodontist, began offering low-cost teeth cleanings at his 11 offices around the state. This, he says, was a public service on his part, as he knows that preventive care is critical for teeth and that citizens who can’t afford dental insurance, which is expensive, often neglect cleanings. His cleanings cost $99 for adults and $69 for kids, far less than what other dentists charged in the state.
Burris quickly heard from the Arkansas State Board of Dental Examiners and was told that he was breaking the law. The Board threatened him with loss of his license if he didn’t cease his bargain cleanings. Why?
Well, Arkansas, like some other states, prohibits licensed dental specialists like orthodontists from doing work outside of their specialty even though they are certified to practice general dentistry. With over a hundred employees out of work, Ben suspended the program.
What’s going on here? Boy, I did a seminar on dental ethics a few years ago: I wish I had another one where I could discuss this. The regulation is nothing more than the profession lobbying the legislature and limiting services to drive up prices. What other possible explanation is there? Cleaning teeth is not the rocket science of dentistry, and any qualified dentist should be completely competent to supervise the task, especially since much of teeth cleaning is handled by hygienists. A licensed dental hygienist is legally qualified to work in a general dentist’s office or that of a specialist without restrictions. But the orthodontist was venturing outside of the little specialist’s box the state had built for him.The Dental Board had received complaints from other licensed dentists, of course. This bleeding heart orthodontist was horning in on their lucrative turf. There were no accusations that Dr. Burris was placing anyone at risk, or that he wasn’t competent to offer cleanings. His crime was doing something that dentists had taken pains to prevent him from doing, even though the prohibition meant that many children and adults would not have access to preventive care. More cavities to fill, more teeth to pull!
Arkansas, with one of the poorest populations in the country, has chosen to make preventive dental care more expensive than it has to be, to protect the incomes of one of the wealthier professions.
Yecchh.
The 14th Amendment protects the right of professionals to offer services that they are qualified to perform. Citing that right, the Institute for Justice is now representing Ben Burris and his colleague Dr. Elizabeth Gohl in a federal lawsuit to defend the right of licensed dentists to perform basic dental services, and to charge what they choose.
When activists complain about restrictive regulations harming freedom, commerce and American society, this is what they are talking about.
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Pointer: Advice Goddess
Sources: Foundation for Economic Education, Institute for Justice
Ethics Alarms 
In pure economic terms, I’m sure the dentist-to-tooth ratio in Arkansas is much higher than the rest of the nation so it does make sense for prices to drive down. So naturally professions form little cartels and use the government to enforce unnatural prices.
You know, I almost made that tooth joke, but an ethics alarm went off. Too politically correct?
Funny trumps all.
If we take ourselves too seriously, we become a droll and painful society not worth perpetuating. I’m sure we can all laugh at ourselves with silly jabs on occasion.
Yeah, but its a state joke, a poverty joke and a mean one, like suggesting that all West Virginians are incestuous Hillbillies.
Does this mean you believe that guys “busting each other’s balls” is inherently unethical?
Because jokes like that which are designed to erode away people’s hyper sensitivity somewhat have to have a modicum of “meanness” to them. And I don’t even associate the tooth jokes with poverty. Just with backwards standards of hygiene which is a natural way to poke fun at people…
Face to face? No problem. Implying that an Arkansas family that I have never met has rotting teach just to be cruel in a way that amused others? Not on a blog.
Well I’m not sold on that line of argument because it isn’t “just to be cruel“. In fact it isn’t to be cruel at all.
Never make fun of a toothless man in person. He might have gotten that way before figuring out how to never lose fights.
True. I know of at least 7 that aren’t.
So I can’t tell the joke about how a WV mom knows when it’s that time of the month for her daughter?
no
This article reminded me of what I read on Hit & Run a month bad. Looks like Ar-Kansas is a haven of such bad behavior.
http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/09/little-rocks-taxi-monopoly-ruled-unconst
Nice piece. You nailed the facts and the spirit of the case. In the end I dropped my speciality license in Arkansas to make myself less qualified so I could legally supervise licensed hygienists. It’s a strange world we live in!
I though you might do that. Thanks for the comment: I’m going to give you an Ethics Hero for it. Strange world indeed, but also a world where what you endured won’t happen if enough people find out about it.
See, I love hearing. This, because I think the vast majority of businessmen will tend to bend over backwards for their workers- in obvious contradiction to the stereotype that is pushed that businessmen only care about their own money.
This is like my own boss (who owns the company also) who goes through incredible pains to avoid downsizing when in practical money terms he ought to.
Wow. Period and comma betrayal in the first sentence.
A situation where the free market was over regulated beyond the reasonable needs to ensure public safety.
The Institute for Justice is a very inspirational group of libertarian public interest lawyers. I did a two-day law student seminar with them back in 1994 and have been in sporadic contact with them ever since. This is in the wheelhouse of what they do — representing small businesses and individuals against protectionist or just dumb government overreach.
Events like this are why Radley Balko suggested that “Libertarianism happens to people”.