Title 5
Businesses and Professions

Chapter 31.1
Dentists and Dental Hygienists

§ 5-31.1-10. Unprofessional conduct.

The term “unprofessional conduct” as used in this chapter includes, but is not limited to, the following items or any combination of them and may be defined by regulations established by the board with the approval of the director:

(1) Fraudulent or deceptive procuring or use of a license or limited registration;

(2) All advertising of dental, dental hygiene, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting business that is intended, or has a tendency, to deceive the public or a dentist advertising as a specialty in an area of dentistry unless the dentist:

(i) Is a diplomat of or a fellow in a specialty board accredited or recognized by the American Dental Association; or

(ii) Has completed a postgraduate program approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association;

(3) Conviction of a felony; conviction of a crime arising out of the practice of dentistry, dental hygiene, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting;

(4) Abandonment of a patient;

(5) Dependence upon controlled substances, habitual drunkenness, or rendering professional services to a patient while the dentist, dental hygienist, DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant, or limited registrant is intoxicated or incapacitated by the use of drugs;

(6) Promotion by a dentist, dental hygienist, DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant, or limited registrant of the sale of drugs, devices, appliances, or goods or services provided for a patient in a manner as to exploit the patient for the financial gain of the dentist, dental hygienist, DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant, or limited registrant;

(7) Immoral conduct of a dentist, dental hygienist, DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant, or limited registrant in the practice of dentistry, dental hygiene, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting;

(8) Willfully making and filing false reports or records in the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene;

(9) Willful omission to file or record, or willfully impeding or obstructing a filing or recording, or inducing another person to omit to file or record dental or other reports as required by law;

(10) Failure to furnish details of a patient’s dental record to succeeding dentists or dental care facility upon proper request pursuant to this chapter;

(11) Solicitation of professional patronage by agents or persons or profiting from acts of those representing themselves to be agents of the licensed dentist, dental hygienist, or limited registrant;

(12) Division of fees, or agreeing to split or divide the fees, received for professional services for any person for bringing to or referring a patient;

(13) Agreeing with clinical or bioanalytical laboratories to accept payments from those laboratories for individual tests or test series for patients, or agreeing with dental laboratories to accept payment from those laboratories for work referred;

(14) Willful misrepresentation in treatments;

(15) Practicing dentistry with an unlicensed dentist or practicing dental hygiene with an unlicensed dental hygienist or practicing DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting with an unlicensed DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant, except in an accredited training program, or with a dental assistant in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board or aiding or abetting those unlicensed persons in the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene;

(16) Gross and willful overcharging for professional services, including filing of false statements for collection of fees for which services are not rendered, or willfully making or assisting in making a false claim or deceptive claim or misrepresenting a material fact for use in determining rights to dental care or other benefits;

(17) Offering, undertaking, or agreeing to cure or treat disease by a secret method, procedure, treatment, or medicine;

(18) Professional or mental incompetence;

(19) Incompetent, negligent, or willful misconduct in the practice of dentistry, dental hygiene, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting, including the rendering of unnecessary dental services and any departure from, or the failure to conform to, the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing dental, dental hygiene, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting practice in his or her area of expertise as is determined by the board. The board does not need to establish actual injury to the patient in order to adjudge a dentist, dental hygienist, DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant, or limited registrant guilty of the previously named misconduct;

(20) Failure to comply with the provisions of chapter 4.7 of title 23;

(21) Revocation, suspension, surrender, or limitation of privilege based on quality of care provided or any other disciplinary action against a license to practice dentistry, dental hygiene, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting in another state or jurisdiction, or revocation, suspension, surrender, or other disciplinary action as to membership on any dental staff or in any dental or professional association or society for conduct similar to acts or conduct that would constitute grounds for action as prescribed in this chapter;

(22) Any adverse judgment, settlement, or award arising from a dental-liability claim related to acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct that would constitute grounds for action as defined in this chapter or regulations adopted under this chapter;

(23) Failure to furnish the board, its dental administrator, investigator, or representatives, information legally requested by the board;

(24) Violation of any provision or provisions of this chapter or the rules and regulations of the board or any rules and regulations promulgated by the director or of an action, stipulation, or agreement of the board;

(25) Cheating on or attempting to subvert the licensing examination;

(26) Violating any state or federal law or regulation relating to controlled substances;

(27) Failure to maintain standards established by peer-review boards, including, but not limited to, standards related to proper utilization of services, and use of nonaccepted procedure and/or quality of care;

(28) Malpractice as defined in § 5-37-1.

(29) No person licensed to practice dentistry in the state of Rhode Island may permit a non-dentist who operates a dental facility in the form of a licensed outpatient healthcare center or management service organization to interfere with the professional judgment of the dentist in the practice.