In Japan, with the relaxation of advertising regulations of medical institutions dated April 1, 2002, it became possible to advertise the names of specialists certified by an academic society that had notified the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare that it met the conditions stated in the notification.
In Japan, it is currently possible to advertise the qualification names recognized by 5 academic societies regarding dental specialties, as follows: Specialist in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, JSP Board Certified Periodontist of the Japanese Society of Periodontology, Japanese Board of Dental Anesthesiologists of the Japanese Dental Society of Anesthesiology, Certified Pediatric Dentist of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Dentistry, and Society Certified Specialist of the Japanese Society for Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.
The Japanese Dental Specialty Board was established in 2018, and started by recertifying specialists in the 5 above-mentioned fields of dentistry that had already been certified. Subsequently, certification has begun for specialists in 5 additional fields of dentistry: conservative dentistry, prosthodontics, orthodontics, oral implantology, and general dentistry. In the past, each academic society has certified itself as a specialty, but under the new specialist system, the specialist training program and the certification of specialist qualifications are conducted by the Japanese Dental Specialty Board, which is a third-party organization.
Since specialists need to renew their specialist qualifications once every 5 years, the Japanese Dental Specialty Board now requires specialists to take common training (ethics, medical safety, infection control, etc.) by videos with 10 credits in 5 years and 2 credits per year. Ten credits of video courses are required for specialists to renew their certification, and specialists renewing their certification must pay a certification fee.
We are paying close attention to the role that the Japanese Dental Specialty Board will play in the future.