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Brazilian Board ofOrthodontics andDentofacial Orthopedicsholds first examination

The Brazilian Board of Orthodonticsand Dentofacial Orthopedics (BBO),founded to address the need for standardsof excellence in the practice of the spe-cialty in Brazil, held the first examina-tion March 19-21, 2004, in Sao Paulo. DrJack Dale, former president of the Amer-ican Board of Orthodontics (ABO), par-ticipated as an examiner.

The decision to establish the BBOand create an objective examination tocertify specialists was taken by leadingpractitioners in a meeting held in Oc-tober 1998, during the Congress of theBrazilian Association of Orthodontics.

The first board of directors waselected in August 2000. Former ABOpresidents evaluated the officers duringthe American Association of Ortho-dontics meeting in Toronto, May 2001.The bylaws of the BBO were alsosubject to approval by the BrazilianAssociation of Orthodontics. The fol-lowing specialists are founding direc-tors of the BBO: President, RobertoMario Amaral Lima Filho; President-Elect, Carlos Jorge Vogel; Secretary,Estelio Zen; Treasurer, Ana Maria Bo-lognese; First Director, Jose NelsonMucha; and Second Director, TelmaMartins de Araujo.

The objectives of the BBO are tostimulate high professional standards ofthe specialty, to establish and maintaincontinuing education in orthodontics,and to award certificates of clinical com-petence.

134 Am

Jack Dale reports fromBrazil

It was my honor and privilege to beinvited as an external consultant for thefirst BBO examination. I found the treat-ment to be superb and the organizationby the board of directors outstanding.BBO President Roberto Mario AmaralLima Filho, who earned his AmericanBoard of Orthodontics certification andwas honored with his wife, Anna LeticiaLima (now deceased), with the first CaseReport of the Year award from the Col-lege of Diplomates of the AmericanBoard of Orthodontics, has set an excel-lent example and is a role model for allapplicants.

The examination was in 2 parts: awritten examination and a case report dis-play. For the written portion, 18 candidateswere given 4 hours to examine 2 casereports they had never seen. They wererequired to establish a diagnosis and prob-lem list, objectives, treatment plan, andalternative treatment plans. They were al-lowed to make cephalometric tracings andcarry out any procedures they used in theirpractices. I sat in the room for the 4 hours

Estelio Zen, Jose Nelson Mucha, AnMario Amaral Lima Filho, Telma Mar

erican Journal of Orthodontics and D

allotted for the examination, and the moreI observed the candidates working at theirtasks, the more my admiration and respectgrew.

The case report display presented180 case reports by the 18 candidates.Each candidate submitted 10 cases, in-cluding 6 with specified malocclusionsand 4 optional. The documentation wasstandardized, uniform, and beautifullydone. You could examine any of the 180case reports on display and find that thepresentation was identical to the others.How I wish that this standard of excel-lence existed all over the world. Boardmembers examined the case displays onFriday and Saturday, and discussed themat a 2-hour round table that involved all18 candidates. It was a most valuable andconstructive session.

The motto of Brazil is “Ordem eProgresso”—order and progress. TheBBO exemplified this motto to perfec-tion.

Jack Dale

Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2004;126:1340889-5406/$30.00Copyright © 2004 by the American Association ofOrthodontists.doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2004.05.009

aria Bolognese, Jack Dale, Robertode Araujo, and Carlos Jorge Vogel.

a Mtins

entofacial Orthopedics/July 2004