PACE standards are designed to help continuing dental education providers follow best practices when planning and implementing dental education programs. Adhering to PACE standards will help providers offer quality dental education courses.

The basic principle of PACE Standard IX is that an approved provider’s promotional materials should provide complete and accurate disclosures about its programs, services and fees, and the standard identifies the specific information providers should include for their promotional material to be considered complete. All promotional materials developed by approved providers should include:

• Course title.
• A description of course content.
• The educational objectives.
• A description of teaching methods to be used.
• Costs (or indicate if complimentary).
• The name of the program provider, joint providers and contact source.
• Course instructor(s), their qualifications and any potential conflicts of interest.
• Refund and cancellation policies.
• Location.
• Date.
• Specific number of hours awarded by educational methods used (lecture, clinical participation, self-instruction, etc.) and AGD subject code(s).
• Time and period of availability for self-instruction courses as well as the original release and review dates.
• The names of any entities providing commercial support.
• The prior level of skill, knowledge or experience suggested of participants.

Approved providers are encouraged to share this list with the staff or committee members who develop their marketing materials as application reviewers will specifically look for these elements when evaluating applications for approval, and any deficiencies will be noted. Not including complete information may result in a shorter approval term  . 

Using the AGD PACE Logo
Approved providers must also include the AGD PACE logo on their promotional material along with an approval statement that includes the provider’s PACE ID number and current term of approval. Including the AGD PACE logo without the required approval statement is a violation of the AGD trademark. For more information about using the AGD PACE logo, please review the Guidelines for Graphic Standards and Reproduction of the Logo for the Academy of General Dentistry PACE Program.If you do not have an electronic copy of the AGD PACE logo, email AGD at pace@agd.org to request one. 

A Word About “Accreditation”
Providers who contact AGD with questions about their accreditation will be gently reminded that AGD is not an accreditation agency. Rather, the AGD PACE Program approves organizations that provide continuing dental education to dental professionals. Why so picky? This is to ensure that providers do not misrepresent the process in which they participated.

While both approval and accreditation are rigorous review processes designed to determine whether educational programs meet defined standards of quality, accreditation processes require applicants to provide data that supports the effectiveness of their training, such as identifying specific learner outcomes and conducting scientific studies to show that the expected learner outcomes are met. Accreditation processes may also conduct on-site evaluations to ensure that standards are being applied. Accreditation may also evaluate the quality of the teaching and coursework. Since these activities are not part of the PACE approval process, AGD works to ensure that all providers refer to the program accurately in their publicity so as to not mislead the public and potential attendees.