State dental boards across the U.S. have done little to ensure their membership does not violate federal antitrust laws, according to a new report from the Pacific Legal Foundation.
Seven notes:
1. A dispute between the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners and providers of teeth whitening services led to a Supreme Court ruling in 2015, which held that dental boards whose membership is mostly made up of active market participants could be in violation of antitrust laws.
2. The Pacific Legal Foundation found that almost all state dental licensing boards are still in violation of the standards set by the Supreme Court in its ruling.
3. The report states that dental boards in all 50 states are at least 60 percent dominated by active market participants, which includes licensed dentists and other dental professionals.
4. More than four of every five board seats are currently held by a licensed dental professional, according to the report.
5. The foundation also found that no state has changed its laws to decrease the control of dental boards by active market participants. In fact, three states have increased the number of board seats held by active market participants since the Supreme Court ruling.
6. The report lists the percentage of active market participants within each state's dental board. Several states were 100% dominated by active market participants.
7. The Pacific Legal Foundation concluded that boards controlled by active market participants are incentivized to restrict competition, which can lead to antitrust lawsuits in addition to reducing the supply of services.