Commercialization of dental education: have we gone too far?

Early U.S. dental training involved a closer relationship between commercialism and education, which was strongly counteracted by university affiliations at the beginning of the twentieth century. With recent decreases in public support for higher education, schools have become increasingly dependent on private revenue sources, including corporate support. There are ethical risks as well as benefits from dental schools establishing business partnerships with corporations. In 2002, a private, for-profit company was responsible for the inception and direct funding of an orthodontic postgraduate program at a private U.S. university. In the last four years, this company has begun funding two additional orthodontic programs, both associated with U.S. public dental schools. Such partnerships with academic institutions represent unique corporate relationships with dental education that are fraught with ethical risks. The dental profession needs to preserve the appropriate autonomy of dental education from commercial influences in order to prevent erosion of academic and ethical standards that are critical to professional integrity and public trust.