Delaware Dental Law: 24 Del. C., Chapter 11 - The Statutory Layer
Chapter 11 of Title 24 is the Dental Practice Act, the statute that creates the Board, defines the practice of dentistry and dental hygiene, and fixes the consequences of practicing outside it. The exam tests whether you can separate what the statute itself commands from what the Board merely fills in by regulation - and whether you can apply the scope and supervision rules to a concrete clinical schedule.
Core statutory rules
- License required. No person may practice dentistry or dental hygiene in Delaware, or hold out as authorized to do so, without a current Delaware license. The statutory definition of practicing dentistry is deliberately broad: diagnosis, treatment planning, surgery, restorative work, prescribing, taking and interpreting radiographs, and fitting prostheses all sit inside it, whether or not a fee is charged and whether the patient is a stranger or a family member.
- Scope is set by the Act. Dentists, dental hygienists, and assistants each have defined authority; delegation beyond that authority is unlicensed practice by the person performing the function, not merely a paperwork lapse.
- Supervision is setting-driven. Hygiene functions may be delivered under less than direct supervision only in the settings the Act and rules allow - public health programs, schools, institutions - and typically only with a prior dentist examination or a written protocol. The hygienist's competence never substitutes for the required supervision level.
- Prohibited conduct. Practicing on a lapsed license, aiding unlicensed practice, fee-splitting, false or misleading advertising, practicing while impaired, and failing to keep adequate records are statutory violations.
- Two tracks of consequence. Unlicensed practice can be prosecuted criminally by the State while the Board separately imposes administrative discipline. One act can generate both.
Worked example
A hygienist is booked to provide prophylaxis and fluoride to a nursing-home resident while the employing dentist is across town. The question is not competence but whether the Act and rules permit that function, in that setting, at that supervision level. If the institutional-setting rule allows general supervision with a written protocol and a prior dentist exam, the appointment proceeds; if the setting or function requires the dentist on site, it is rescheduled. Answer: classify the setting first, confirm the supervision category, and document the authorization in the record.
Traps
Assuming the Board can expand statutory scope by rule - it cannot; a conflicting rule is unenforceable. Assuming a rule says nothing, so anything goes. Treating radiographs, prescribing, and impressions as clerical tasks outside the statutory definition of dentistry. Confusing the criminal track with Board discipline, or assuming a Board reprimand resolves the criminal exposure.