TITLE 5
Businesses and Professions
CHAPTER 5-31.1
Dentists and Dental Hygienists
SECTION 5-31.1-10
§ 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 which 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 post-graduate program approved by the
Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association;
(3) Conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude;
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 patient;
(5) Dependence upon controlled substances, habitual
drunkenness or rendering professional services to a patient while the dentist,
dental hygienist, DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assisting, 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, or DAANCE-certified maxillofacial surgery assistant 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 bio-analytical 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 non-accepted procedure and/or quality of care;
(28) Malpractice as defined in § 5-37-1(8).
(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 out patient health care center or management service
organization to interfere with the professional judgment of the dentist in the
practice.
History of Section.
(P.L. 1987, ch. 358, § 2; P.L. 1993, ch. 310, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch.
199, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 95, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 163, §
1.)
