> So long as there are only 350 othodontists allowed to graduate per year I'm (moreso, but not completely) sympathetic to this argument when we're talking abou

> So long as there are only 350 othodontists allowed to graduate per year I'm (moreso, but not completely) sympathetic to this argument when we're talking about (significantly) lesser skilled providers such as barbers or taxi drivers. But in the context of health care providers, you're hand-waving the inescapable fact that there is a fundamental limitation in the supply of persons capable of acquiring the education and skills, and delivering competent patient services. I've worked at a top 2 US dental school. I've seen that - even there - there were students that couldn't hack it and failed out. Others failed to graduate on time, requiring remedial and/or additional work. The relative quality of students generally correlates with the relative quality of the school. So it's relatively downhill from there. Now, maybe the natural limit is higher than the limit you cite. (Is that even some kind of mandated (by whomever) limit, or is it simply the result of the limited number of seats available in accredited dental schools. If it's the latter, is it really honest to say "allowed")? Or maybe the work in orthodonture could be unbundled in such a way that much of it could be delivered by lesser skilled, and thus less costly providers. But this is a poor - and lazy - argument.