How CAO Members Can Participate

Members of the California Association of Orthodontists who want to get more involved with legislation and regulations that affect orthodontic practice in California have a number of avenues available to them:

Get Informed

You can find news and updates on relevant legislation and rules in the "Laws and Regulations" section of the CAO Web site and in the CAO's California Orthodontist.

For the latter, you may want to check both the most recent issue and the archives.

You can find out the status of proposed changes in laws which would impact dentistry and specialties: www.dbc.ca.gov/laws.html.

Check the status of proposed laws from either a business or general citizen perspective at: www.leginfo.ca.gov.

Another good source of legislative and regulatory news is the California Dental Association website.

Contact CAO

If you recognize problems that are not being addressed or want to help with CAO's efforts to deal with them, contact Jeff Milde or the CAO Legislative Committee, chaired by Gary Baughman .

Volunteer

There are no specific openings now on the Legislative Committee, but CAO members and their orthodontic staff are encouraged to download and submit a doctor or staff volunteer form.

Volunteers who submit forms will be considered when leadership opportunities become available.

Contact Legislators and Regulators

On many occasions, it may be helpful to have individual CAO members contact their legislators or agencies about a specific issue.

It is probably best to coordinate these contacts with the CAO Legislative Committee and staff to assure that orthodontists in California are speaking with a common voice.

Support Candidates for Office

It is always helpful for orthodontists to have close relationships with individual legislators when specific issues arise, and one way to do that is to support specific candidates when they are running for office.

Next: Contact Information for California Legislators and Agencies