In a science based field like dentistry, standardization is critical. If you don't have standards, nothing can really be measured and/or improved. Imagine that you got to a jeweler and you ask for a gram of gold. He pulls out a sealed black box and then tells you the price? You ask, "Is there gold in there?" How do you know how much it weighs?" If his response is "Trust me. If I say there's a gram of gold in there, you can be sure there is." I think you would you would walk out. I realize that's an overly simplistic and kooky example, but it really does hold true. If you don't know what's in something or how much of it there is, how can you know what it is?
Way back in 1917 the U.S. Army needed to get soldiers ready for battle. They tasked the National Bureau of Standards to be in charge of research on amalgam. That ended up being the event that brought the American Dental Association into the picture and lead to a standard on amalgam.
Today most practitioners don't even think about it. We know the materials we order and use every day are state of the art, developed by amazingly intelligent people, and held to exacting standards. But if it weren't for a lot of people working tirelessly in the background, that wouldn't be the case. This is also a perfect example of why I'm a fan of organized dentistry. I sometimes hear someone wonder "what has the ADA ever done for me?" and the ADA Standards Program is just one of those things.
The ADA News has a great article on how the Standards Program came to be and how it continues to help dentists every day. You can find that article here and I think you'll be amazed when you read it!
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