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
(C) diagnosis, treatment, operation, or prescription for a
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
(C) aiding or abetting the practice of dentistry by a person not
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.
(c) In this subtitle, the practice of the dental specialty of
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
(C) who practices in strict conformity with state law regulating
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.