2015 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 20 - Professional and Occupational Licensing, Certification, Title Protection and Registration. Examining Boards
Chapter 379 - Dentistry
Section 20-123 - Scope of practice of dentistry. Activities restricted to licensed dentists. Extended scope of practice for graduates of post-doctoral dental training programs. Penalties. Exceptions.

(a) No person shall engage in the practice of dentistry unless he or she is licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The practice of dentistry or dental medicine is defined as the diagnosis, evaluation, prevention or treatment by surgical or other means, of an injury, deformity, disease or condition of the oral cavity or its contents, or the jaws or the associated structures of the jaws. The practice of dentistry does not include: (1) The treatment of dermatologic diseases or disorders of the skin or face; (2) the performance of microvascular free tissue transfer; (3) the treatment of diseases or disorders of the eye; (4) ocular procedures; (5) the performance of cosmetic surgery or other cosmetic procedures other than those related to the oral cavity, its contents, or the jaws; or (6) nasal or sinus surgery, other than that related to the oral cavity, its contents or the jaws.

(b) No person other than a person licensed to practice dentistry under this chapter shall:

(1) Describe himself or herself by the word “Dentist” or letters “D.D.S.” or “D.M.D.”, or in other words, letters or title in connection with his or her name which in any way represents such person as engaged in the practice of dentistry;

(2) Own or carry on a dental practice or business;

(3) Replace lost teeth by artificial ones, or attempt to diagnose or correct malpositioned teeth;

(4) Directly or indirectly, by any means or method, furnish, supply, construct, reproduce or repair any prosthetic denture, bridge, appliance or any other structure to be worn in a person’s mouth, except upon the written direction of a licensed dentist, or place such appliance or structure in a person’s mouth or attempt to adjust such appliance or structure in a person’s mouth, or deliver such appliance or structure to any person other than the dentist upon whose direction the work was performed;

(5) Sell or distribute materials, except to a licensed dentist, dental laboratory or dental supply house, with instructions for an individual to construct, repair, reproduce or duplicate any prosthetic denture, bridge, appliance or any other structure to be worn in a person’s mouth;

(6) Advertise to the public, by any method, to furnish, supply, construct, reproduce or repair any prosthetic denture, bridge, appliance or other structure to be worn in a person’s mouth;

(7) Give estimates of the cost of dental treatment; or

(8) Advertise or permit it to be advertised by sign, card, circular, handbill or newspaper, or otherwise indicate that such person, by contract with others or by himself or herself, will perform any of the functions specified in subdivisions (1) to (7), inclusive, of this subsection.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a person who is licensed to practice dentistry under this chapter, who has successfully completed a postdoctoral training program that is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor organization, in the specialty area of dentistry in which such person practices may: (1) Diagnose, evaluate, prevent or treat by surgical or other means, injuries, deformities, diseases or conditions of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial area, or its adjacent or associated structures; and (2) perform any of the following procedures, provided the dentist has been granted hospital privileges to perform such procedures: (A) Surgical treatment of sleep apnea involving the jaws; (B) salivary gland surgery; (C) the harvesting of donor tissue; (D) frontal and orbital surgery and nasoethmoidal procedures to the extent that such surgery or procedures are associated with trauma.

(d) Any person who, in practicing dentistry or dental medicine, as defined in this section, employs or permits any other person except a licensed dentist to so practice dentistry or dental medicine shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 20-126.

(e) The provisions of this section do not apply to:

(1) Any practicing physician or surgeon who is licensed in accordance with chapter 370;

(2) Any regularly enrolled student in a dental school approved as provided in this chapter or a medical school approved as provided in chapter 370 receiving practical training in dentistry under the supervision of a licensed dentist or physician in a dental or medical school in this state or in any hospital, infirmary, clinic or dispensary affiliated with such school;

(3) A person who holds the degree of doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery or its equivalent and who has been issued a permit in accordance with section 20-126b and who is receiving practical training under the supervision of a licensed dentist or physician in an advanced dental education program conducted by a dental or medical school in this state or by a hospital operated by the federal government or licensed pursuant to subsection (a) of section 19a-491;

(4) Any regularly enrolled student in or graduate of an accredited school of dental hygiene who is receiving practical training in dental hygiene in an approved school of dental hygiene in the state or in any hospital, infirmary, clinic or dispensary affiliated with such school, under the supervision of a dentist licensed pursuant to this chapter or a dental hygienist licensed pursuant to chapter 379a; or

(5) Controlled investigations or innovative training programs related to the delivery of dental health services within accredited dental schools or schools of dental hygiene, provided such programs are (A) under the supervision of a dentist licensed pursuant to this chapter or physician licensed pursuant to chapter 370, and (B) conducted within a program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation or such other national professional accrediting body as may be recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(1949 Rev., S. 4458; 1949, 1953, S. 2233d; 1963, P.A. 450, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 238; 1969, P.A. 102; 1971, P.A. 244; P.A. 73-183; P.A. 92-35, S. 8; P.A. 94-149, S. 22; P.A. 05-213, S. 3.)

History: 1963 act required direction of licensed dentist in first sentence to be written; 1967 act deleted descriptive references to “the human teeth or jaws” and substituted “the mouth and surrounding and associated structures”; 1969 act required that section not be construed to prevent students or graduates from receiving training under supervision of licensed dentist or hygienist; 1971 act included as practicing dentistry one who “sells or distributes materials, except to a licensed dentist ... with instructions ... to construct, repair, reproduce or duplicate any prosthetic denture, bridge ...”; P.A. 73-183 required that section not be construed “to prevent controlled investigations or innovative training programs ... provided such programs are under the supervision of a licensed dentist or physician”; P.A. 92-35 added provision requiring inclusion in a program accredited by the commission on dental accreditation or other body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; P.A. 94-149 added provision re dentists issued a permit under Sec. 20-126v; P.A. 05-213 replaced former provisions with new Subsec. (a) re dentists’ scope of practice, new Subsec. (b) specifying certain activities that may only be performed by persons licensed to practice dentistry; new Subsec. (c) authorizing graduates of post-doctoral dental training programs to engage in certain practices beyond the scope of dentistry defined in Subsec. (a), new Subsec. (d) authorizing penalties for persons who employ or permit unlicensed persons to practice dentistry or dental medicine, and new Subsec. (e) exempting certain persons, investigations and training programs from provisions of section.

See Secs. 20-14c to 20-14g, inclusive, re dispensing and labeling of drugs by licensed practitioners.

Dental assistant guilty of violation when he sprayed and drilled tooth. 109 C. 73. Such part as deals with making and repairing prosthetic dentures is not unreasonable or arbitrary exercise of police power; such part as deals with advertising is unconstitutional. 141 C. 288. Cited. 148 C. 94; 149 C. 262. Statute must be strictly construed since it is in derogation of a common law right and is penal in nature; selling and supplying of “Spare Denture Kit” does not constitute the practice of dentistry in violation of section (prior to 1971 amendment). 159 C. 362.

Cited. 21 CS 332.