Section 317-A:20 Practice of Dentistry.


   I. A person shall be regarded as practicing dentistry within the meaning of this chapter who:
      (a) Uses or permits to be used, directly or indirectly, for profit or otherwise, for that person or for any other person, in connection with the person's name, the word ""dentist'', or ""dental surgeon'', or the title ""D.D.S.'' or ""D.M.D.'', or any other words, letters, titles, or descriptive matter, personal or not, which directly or indirectly imply the practice of dentistry;
      (b) Owns, leases, maintains, or operates a dental business in any office or other room or rooms where dental operations are performed, or directly or indirectly is manager, proprietor, or conductor of the same;
      (c) Directly or indirectly informs the public in any language, orally, in writing, or in printing, or by drawings, demonstrations, specimens, signs, or pictures that the person can perform or will attempt to perform dental operations of any kind;
      (d) Undertakes, by any means or method, including by use of electronic media, gratuitously or for a salary, fee, money, or other reward paid or granted directly or indirectly to that person or to any other person, to diagnose or profess to diagnose, to treat or profess to treat, or prescribe for or profess to prescribe for any of the lesions, diseases, disorders, or deficiencies of the human oral cavity, teeth, gums, maxilla, or mandible or adjacent associated structures;
      (e) Supervises a dentist within the scope of the practice of dentistry;
      (f) Except on the written prescription of a duly licensed dentist and by the use of impressions or casts made by a duly licensed and practicing dentist, directly or indirectly by mail, carrier, personal agent, or by any other method, furnishes, supplies, constructs, reproduces, or repairs prosthetic dentures, bridges, appliances, or other structures to be used and worn as substitutes for natural teeth, or adjusts the same; or
      (g) Administers dental anesthetics, either general or local.
      (h) Deleted.
   II. Any dentist who wishes to administer general anesthesia, deep sedation, or conscious sedation shall apply to the board for the appropriate permit and pay an application fee set by the board in accordance with RSA 317-A:12, XII-a.
   III. Nothing in this section shall prevent:
      (a) Physicians or surgeons licensed under RSA 329 from practicing dentistry incidental to their practice of medicine.
      (b) Students from American Dental Association accredited schools from practicing in hospitals or other institutions under the supervision of a faculty member of an American Dental Association accredited school who is also licensed under this chapter.
      (c) A health care charitable trust, as defined under RSA 7:32-d, V, from owning, leasing, maintaining, or operating a dental clinic where dental operations are performed, provided:
         (1) The health care charitable trust is a not-for-profit corporation under RSA 292 and section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
         (2) The health care charitable trust complies with the provisions of RSA 7:19 through RSA 7:32-l; and
         (3) The practice of dentistry conducted under the authority of the health care charitable trust shall be under the supervision of a dentist licensed by the board. The health care charitable trust shall notify the board in writing of the name and location of the dental clinic and the name of the supervising dentist, and shall notify the board within 10 days of any change of the supervising dentist.
      (d) Graduates from an American Dental Association accredited school from practicing in an American Dental Association accredited residency program under the supervision of a dentist holding an active license issued by the board for the duration of the residency program.
   IV. Such things as the board shall determine to be ""dental hygiene'' under RSA 317-A:12 or RSA 317-A:21-c shall not be deemed to be the practice of dentistry within the meaning of this section.

Source. 1971, 364:1. 1996, 102:3. 1997, 204:6. 2000, 5:22. 2004, 163:1, eff. July 23, 2004. 2005, 42:3, 4, eff. July 16, 2005. 2008, 43:1, eff. July 11, 2008.