6611 - Special provisions.
§ 6611. Special provisions. 1. Except upon the written dental laboratory prescription of a licensed dentist and except by the use of impressions or casts made by a licensed dentist, no dental laboratory shall furnish, supply, construct, reproduce, place, adjust, or repair any dental prosthesis, device, or appliance. A dental laboratory prescription shall be made out in duplicate. It shall contain such data as may be prescribed by the commissioner's regulations. One copy shall be retained by the practitioner of dentistry for a period of one year. The other copy shall be issued to the person, firm or corporation engaged in filling dental laboratory prescriptions, who or which shall each retain and file in their respective offices or places of business their respective copies for a period of one year. 2. The department is empowered to inspect and to have access to all places, including the office or offices of a licensed dentist, where copies of dental laboratory prescriptions issued by him are retained as required by this section, and to all places where dental laboratory prescriptions are filled or to any workroom or workrooms in which prosthetic restorations, prosthetic dentures, bridges, orthodontic or other appliances or structures to be used as substitutes for natural teeth or tissue or for the correction of malocclusion or deformities are made, repaired or altered, with power to subpoena and examine records of dental laboratory prescriptions. A person who fails to grant access to such places or who fails to maintain prescriptions as required by this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. 3. The department may arrange for the conduct of clinical examinations in the clinic of any school of dentistry or dental hygiene within or outside the state for dental or dental hygiene candidates. 4. A not-for-profit dental or medical expense indemnity corporation or hospital service corporation organized under the insurance law or pursuant to special legislation may enter into contracts with dentists or partnerships of dentists to provide dental care on its behalf for persons insured under its contracts or policies. 5. Legally incorporated dental corporations existing and in operation prior to January first, nineteen hundred sixteen, may continue to operate through licensed dentists while conforming to the provisions of this title. Any such corporation which shall be dissolved or cease to exist or operate for any reason whatsoever shall not be permitted to resume operations. No such corporation shall change its name or sell its franchise or transfer its corporate rights directly or indirectly, by transfer of capital stock control or otherwise, to any person or to another corporation without permission from the department, and any corporation so changing its name or so transferring its franchise or corporate rights without such permission shall be deemed to have forfeited its rights to exist and may be dissolved by an action brought by the attorney general. 6. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of any general, special or local law, any licensed dentist who voluntarily and without the expectation of monetary compensation renders first aid or emergency treatment at the scene of an accident or other emergency, outside of a hospital or any other place having proper and necessary medical equip- ment, to a person who is unconscious, ill or injured shall not be liable for damages for injuries alleged to have been sustained by such person or for damages for the death of such person alleged to have occurred by reason of an act or omission in the rendering of such first aid or emergency treatment unless it is established that such injuries were or such death was caused by gross negligence on the part of such dentist. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed or construed to relieve a licensed dentist from liability for damages for injuries or death causedby an act or omission on the part of a dentist while rendering professional services in the normal and ordinary course of practice. 7. Any dentist or dental hygienist, who in the performance of dental services, x-rays the mouth or teeth of a patient shall during the performance of such x-rays shield the torso and thyroid area of such patient including but not limited to the gonads and other reproductive organs with a lead apron thyroid collar, or other similar protective garment or device. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, if in the dentist's professional judgment the use of a thyroid collar would be inappropriate under the circumstances, because of the nature of the patient, the type of x-ray being taken, or other factors, the dentist or dental hygienist need not shield the thyroid area. 8. An unlicensed person may provide supportive services to a dentist incidental to and concurrent with such dentist personally performing a service or procedure. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to allow an unlicensed person to provide any service which constitutes the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene as defined in this article. 9. There shall be no monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action for damages shall arise against, any person, partnership, corporation, firm, society, or other entity on account of the communication of information in the possession of such person or entity, or on account of any recommendation or evaluation, regarding the qualifications, fitness, or professional conduct or practices of a dentist, to any governmental agency, dental or specialists society, or hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public health law. The foregoing shall not apply to information which is untrue and communicated with malicious intent. 10. Beginning January first, two thousand nine, each dentist shall become certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from an approved provider and thereafter maintain current certification, which shall be included in the mandatory hours of continuing education acceptable for dentists to the extent provided in the commissioner's regulations. In the event the dentist cannot physically perform CPR, the commissioner's regulations shall allow the dentist to make arrangements for another individual in the office to administer CPR.