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Banking Completion Options

Eligibility and Requirements

Examinees who have 3 or more complete cases have two options to complete the board certification process.  These options may be combined in order to reach the total balance of 6 patient cases. These cases will be “banked”, or documented, at the ABO central office. The examinee will have ten (10) years and two (2) more attempts to complete requirements for the balance of cases. If all of these opportunities have been exhausted, the examinee will be required to petition the board for further instruction regarding options to fulfill the necessary certification requirements.

Residency cases may only be used towards balance if the cases are submitted within the 24 month period after graduation.   

Online Board Case Exam (BCE) Option:

Examinee is required to complete the number of online Board Case Exams (BCEs) to match the remaining number of Incomplete/Unsubmitted cases until a total of 6 is met.
BCE Study Guide and Sample Case

Complete one (1) online Board Case Exam (BCE) per missing case

  • 50 multiple choice questions
  • 90-minute time limit

Mail-in Case Option:

Examinee is required to mail-in their remaining cases for review until they have completed a total of 6 (original required categories) cases complete. 

Case Report Examination (CRE) for each missing case submitted by mail. The patient source requirements are as follows:

  • Case(s) treated by the examinee from their clinical orthodontic practice (residency cases are accepted if graduation date is dated within 24 months).
  • Full-time orthodontic educators, who have met all other requirements, may present a case that the educator directly supervised while teaching within a CODA approved orthodontic program. The supervised case may not include a case that has been, or will be, presented to the ABO by a resident of the orthodontic program.

Incomplete BCOE:

An examinee that has an Incomplete score on the BCOE will be required to register for a future web-based BCOE examination within ten (10 years).