I. The board may undertake adjudicatory proceedings or proceedings to determine the qualifications of applicants for licensure:
(a) Upon its own initiative; or
(b) Upon written complaint of any person which charges that a person licensed by the board has committed misconduct under paragraph II of this section and specifies the grounds therefor, or charges that an applicant for a license lacks necessary qualifications and specifies the grounds therefor.
II. The board, after notice and the opportunity to be heard, may refuse to issue or renew a license or impose sanctions against a licensee, when it has evidence that the licensee or applicant has engaged in professional misconduct. Misconduct sufficient to support adverse action shall include:
(a) Addiction to mind-altering drugs or intoxicants.
(b)(1) Commission of any felony or misdemeanor involving dishonesty, untrustworthiness, or unprofessional conduct; or
(2) Any administrative or criminal conviction involving moral turpitude; or
(3) The practice of fraud or untruthfulness in obtaining educational credentials, examination scores, or professional licensure in this or any other jurisdiction.
(c) Affliction with a physical or mental impairment or disease which is dangerous to the public health or which precludes the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene at ordinary levels of proficiency.
(d) Ignorance, incompetence, or a pattern of behavior inconsistent with the basic knowledge and skills expected of persons licensed to practice dentistry or dental hygiene.
(e) Gross or repeated negligence in practicing dentistry or dental hygiene.
(f) Intentionally injuring a patient or engaging in any other unprofessional or dishonest conduct in practicing dentistry or dental hygiene.
(g) Failure to follow the current guidelines of:
(1) The American Dental Association, as adopted, in whole or in part, by the board, as published in:
(A) Dental Radiographic Examinations: Recommendations for Patient Selection and Limiting Radiation Exposure; and
(B) Recommendations in Radiographic Practices.
(2) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as published in Infection Control Recommendations.
(h) Advertising the licensee’s dental practice by using any newspaper, broadcast, cable transmission, telephone, sign, poster, or other advertising message which:
(1) Deceives or is intended to deceive the public concerning dental services, techniques, the qualifications of a licensee, or the prices to be charged;
(2) Claims or suggests that the licensee enjoys professional superiority or performs services in a manner superior to other persons licensed by this chapter or that the licensee performs services or any particular service in a painless manner; or
(3) Announces the use of any drug or medicine of an unknown formula or any system or anesthetic that is unnamed, misnamed, misrepresented, or not in reality used.
(i) Employing or permitting an unlicensed person to practice in the licensee’s office.
(j) Knowingly or willfully violating any provision of this chapter, any substantive rule or order of the dental board, any federal, state, or local controlled drug law or other federal, state, or local laws or regulations pertaining to:
(1) The practice of dentistry, and the Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct of the American Dental Association as reviewed and approved, in whole or in part, by the board; or
(2) The practice of dental hygiene, and the code of ethics of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, as reviewed and approved, in whole or in part, by the board.
(k) Having more than one patient undergoing moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia on an outpatient basis at any given time unless each patient is being continuously monitored on a one-to-one ratio while sedated by either the dentist or another licensed health professional authorized by law to administer moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia.
(l) Failing to have patients recovering from moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia closely monitored by licensed health professionals experienced in the care and resuscitation of patients recovering from moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia. If one licensed professional is responsible for the recovery care of more than one patient at a time, all of the patients shall be physically in the same room to allow continuous visual contact with all patients and the patient to recovery staff ratio should not exceed 3 to one.
(m) Failing to have patients continuously monitored with a pulse oximeter or similar or superior monitoring equipment required by the board while undergoing or recovering from moderate sedation, deep sedation, or general anesthesia.
(n) Failing to perform an adequate history and physical as defined in rules under RSA 317-A:12, XII-a(h) or to obtain the written informed consent of a patient prior to the administering general anesthesia, deep sedation, or moderate sedation. In the case of a minor, the consent shall be obtained from the child’s parent or guardian.
(o) Failing to report an adverse event or implement a corrective action plan as required by RSA 317-A:20-a.
III. The board may take disciplinary action in any one or more of the following ways:
(a) By license revocation or suspension.
(b) By limitation or restriction of a license.
(c) By requiring the licensee to submit to the care, counseling or treatment of a physician, counseling service, health care facility, professional assistance program, or any comparable person or facility, approved by the board.
(d) By requiring the licensee to participate in educational programs relevant to the practice of dentistry in substantive areas in which the licensee has been found professionally deficient.
(e) By requiring the licensee to practice under the direction of a dentist in a public institution, public or private health care program, or private practice for a period of time specified by the board under rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A.
(f) By assessing administrative fines in amounts established by the board which shall not exceed $2,000 per offense or, in the case of continuing offenses, $250 for each day the violation continues.
(g) By reprimand.
IV. Upon receipt of an administratively final order from the licensing authority of another jurisdiction which imposed disciplinary sanctions against any person licensed by the board, or any person applying for licensure, the board may issue an order directing the licensee or applicant to appear and show cause why similar disciplinary action or, in the case of an applicant, license denial or restriction, should not be imposed in this state. In any such proceeding, the decision of the foreign licensing authority may not be collaterally attacked, but the licensee or applicant shall be given the opportunity to demonstrate why a lesser sanction should be imposed. When acting under this paragraph, the board may issue any disciplinary sanction or take any action with regard to a license application, which would otherwise be permitted by this chapter, including sanctions or actions more stringent than those imposed by the foreign jurisdiction. The board shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to handling summary proceedings brought under this paragraph, but shall furnish the respondent at least 10 days’ written notice and an opportunity to be heard.
V. (a) Every insurer, including self-insurers, providing professional liability insurance to a licensee of the board shall send a complete report to the board as to all reservable claims and suits coincident with the initiation of an action for dental injury within 30 days after the initiation of the action. For the purpose of this paragraph, dental injury means any adverse, untoward, or undesired consequences arising out of or sustained in the course of professional services rendered by a dental care provider, whether resulting from negligence, error, or omission in the performance of such services; from rendition of such services without informed consent or in breach of warranty or in violation of contract; from failure to diagnose; from premature abandonment of a patient or of a course of treatment; from failure properly to maintain equipment or appliances necessary to the rendition of such services; or otherwise arising out of or sustained in the course of such services.
(b) The board shall conduct an investigation of any person licensed by the board who has been the subject of 3 insurance claims or legal judgments for medical injury as defined in RSA 329:17, III, which pertain to 3 different events within any consecutive 5-year period commencing with January 1, 1988.
Source. 1971, 364:1. 1979, 456:8. 1983, 346:3. 1987, 133:4. 1992, 2:4. 1994, 289:3. 1997, 204:5. 2000, 5:17, 18. 2003, 149:7, 8. 2006, 238:1. 2012, 27:2, 3. 2013, 22:1, eff. July 15, 2013. 2018, 188:2, eff. Aug. 7, 2018; 316:9, 10, eff. Aug. 24, 2018.