CHAPTER 251. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY

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Statutes > Texas > Occupations-code > Title-3-health-professions > Chapter-251-general-provisions-relating-to-practice-of-dentistry

OCCUPATIONS CODE

TITLE 3. HEALTH PROFESSIONS

SUBTITLE D. DENTISTRY

CHAPTER 251. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY

Sec. 251.001. SHORT TITLE. This subtitle may be cited as the

Dental Practice Act.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 251.002. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle:

(1) "Board" means the State Board of Dental Examiners.

(2) "Executive director" means the executive director of the

board.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 251.003. PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY. (a) For purposes of this

subtitle, a person practices dentistry if the person:

(1) represents to the public that the person is a dentist or

dental surgeon or uses or permits to be used for the person or

another person the title of "Doctor," "Dr.," "Doctor of Dental

Surgery," "D.D.S.," "Doctor of Dental Medicine," "D.M.D.," or

another description, including the use of the terms "denturist"

or "denturism," that, directly or indirectly, represents that the

person is able to:

(A) diagnose, treat, or remove stains or concretions from human

teeth; or

(B) provide surgical and adjunctive treatment for a disease,

pain, injury, deficiency, deformity, or physical condition of the

human teeth, oral cavity, alveolar process, gums, jaws, or

directly related and adjacent masticatory structures;

(2) performs or offers to perform by any means the:

(A) cleaning of human teeth;

(B) removal of stains, concretions, or deposits from teeth in

the human mouth; or

disease, pain, injury, deficiency, deformity, or physical

condition of the human teeth, oral cavity, alveolar process,

gums, or jaws;

(3) prescribes, makes, or causes to be made or offers to

prescribe, make, or cause to be made by any means an impression

of any portion of the human mouth, teeth, gums, or jaws:

(A) to diagnose, prescribe, or treat, or aid in the diagnosis,

prescription, or treatment, of a physical condition of the human

mouth, teeth, gums, or jaws; or

(B) to construct or aid in the construction of a dental

appliance, denture, dental bridge, false teeth, dental plate of

false teeth, or another substitute for human teeth;

(4) owns, maintains, or operates an office or place of business

in which the person employs or engages under any type of contract

another person to practice dentistry;

(5) fits, adjusts, repairs, or substitutes or offers to fit,

adjust, repair, or substitute in the human mouth or directly

related and adjacent masticatory structures a dental appliance,

structure, prosthesis, or denture;

(6) aids in the fitting, adjusting, repairing, or substituting

or causes to be fitted, adjusted, repaired, or substituted in the

human mouth or directly related and adjacent masticatory

structures a dental appliance, structure, prosthesis, or denture;

(7) without a written prescription or work order signed by a

dentist legally practicing dentistry in this state or in the

jurisdiction in which the dentist maintains the dentist's office:

(A) makes, processes, reproduces, repairs, or relines a full or

partial denture, fixed or removable dental bridge or appliance,

dental plate of false teeth, artificial dental restoration, or a

substitute or corrective device or appliance for the human teeth,

gums, jaws, mouth, alveolar process, or any part for another; or

(B) offers, undertakes, aids, abets, or causes another person to

engage in an activity described by Paragraph (A);

(8) directly or indirectly offers, undertakes, or causes another

to perform for any person an act, service, or part of an act or

service in the practice of dentistry, including:

(A) inducing, administering, prescribing, or dispensing

anesthesia or an anesthetic drug, medicine, or an agent in any

way related to the practice of dentistry;

(B) permitting or allowing another to use the person's license

or certificate to practice dentistry in this state; or

licensed by the board to practice dentistry;

(9) controls, influences, attempts to control or influence, or

otherwise interferes with the exercise of a dentist's independent

professional judgment regarding the diagnosis or treatment of a

dental disease, disorder, or physical condition; or

(10) represents that the person is a denturist or uses another

title that is intended to convey to the public that the services

offered by the person are included within the practice of

dentistry.

(b) The practice of dentistry under Subsection (a)(9) does not:

(1) require an entity to pay for services that are not provided

for in an agreement; or

(2) exempt a dentist who is a member of a hospital staff from

following hospital bylaws, medical staff bylaws, or established

policies approved by the governing board and the medical and

dental staff of the hospital.

oral and maxillofacial surgery includes the diagnosis of and the

surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, injuries, and

defects involving the functional and aesthetic aspects of the

hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 251.004. EXEMPTION FROM PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY. (a) A

person does not practice dentistry as provided by Section 251.003

if the person is:

(1) a faculty member of a reputable dental or dental hygiene

school in which the member performs services for the sole benefit

of the school;

(2) a student of a reputable dental school who performs the

student's operations without pay, except for actual cost of

materials, in the presence of and under the direct personal

supervision of a demonstrator or teacher who is a faculty member

of a reputable dental school;

(3) a person:

(A) who performs laboratory work only on inert matter; and

(B) who does not solicit or obtain work by any means from a

person who is not a licensed dentist engaged in the practice of

dentistry and does not act as the agent or solicitor of, and does

not have any interest in, a dental office or practice or the

receipts of a dental office or practice;

(4) a physician licensed in this state who does not represent

that the person is practicing dentistry, including a physician

who extracts teeth or applies pain relief in the regular practice

of the physician's profession;

(5) a dental hygienist:

(A) who is authorized to practice dental hygiene in this state;

and

(B) who practices dental hygiene in strict conformity with the

state law regulating the practice of dental hygiene;

(6) a person who is a member of an established church and

practices healing by prayer only;

(7) an employee of a licensed dentist in this state who makes

dental x-rays in the dental office under the supervision of the

dentist;

(8) a Dental Health Service Corporation chartered under Section

A(1), Article 2.01, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article

1396-2.01, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);

(9) a dental intern or dental resident as defined and regulated

by board rules;

(10) a student:

(A) who is in a dental hygiene program accredited by the

Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental

Association and operated at an accredited institution of higher

education;

(B) who practices dental hygiene without pay under the general

supervision of a dentist and under the supervision of a

demonstrator or teacher who is a faculty member of the program:

(i) in a clinic operated for the sole benefit of the program's

institution of higher education; or

(ii) in a clinic operated by a government or nonprofit

organization that serves underserved populations as determined by

board rule; and

the practice of dental hygiene;

(11) a dental assistant who performs duties permitted under

Chapter 265, in strict conformity with state law;

(12) a dentist or dental hygienist licensed by another state or

a foreign country who performs a clinical procedure only as a

demonstration for professional and technical education purposes,

if the dentist or dental hygienist first obtains from the board a

temporary license for that purpose;

(13) a dental hygienist who is a faculty member of a dental or

dental hygiene school while practicing dental hygiene:

(A) under the supervision of a dentist licensed in this state or

of a teacher or demonstrator who is a dentist faculty member of

the school; and

(B) in strict conformity with state law regulating the practice

of dental hygiene;

(14) a dentist who is in a remedial training program sponsored

by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental

Association at an accredited dental or dental hygiene school;

(15) a dental hygienist who is in a remedial training program

sponsored by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the

American Dental Association at an accredited dental or dental

hygiene school and who acts in strict conformity with state law

regulating the practice of dental hygiene, except that

supervision may be provided by a demonstrator or teacher who is a

dentist member of the program;

(16) a dentist who is not licensed in this state and who is

taking the dental clinical examination offered in this state by

an examining body designated by the board;

(17) a dental hygienist who is not licensed in this state and

who is taking the dental hygiene clinical examination offered in

this state by an examining body designated by the board if

participation is in strict conformity with state law regulating

the practice of dental hygiene, except that supervision may be

provided by a dentist whose services are secured by the examining

body;

(18) a dentist whose license is in retired status or who is

licensed in another state and is attending a continuing education

clinical program offered at a dental or dental hygiene school

accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the

American Dental Association; or

(19) a dental hygienist whose dental hygienist license is in

retired status or who is licensed in another state and is

attending a continuing education clinical program offered at a

dental or dental hygiene school accredited by the Commission on

Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association if tasks

are performed in strict conformity with state law regulating the

practice of dental hygiene, except that supervision may be

provided by a dentist member of the program.

(b) A person's activities described by Subsections (a)(14),

(15), and (18) are considered not to be the practice of dentistry

only to the extent the person is participating in the specified

program.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.071(a), eff.

Sept. 1, 2001.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.

810, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 251.005. APPLICATION OF SUNSET ACT. The State Board of

Dental Examiners is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code

(Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by

that chapter, the board is abolished September 1, 2015.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 17, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

2003; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1481, Sec. 1.02, eff. Sept. 1,

2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 17, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

State Codes and Statutes

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