Renewal Lapse With a Full Schedule

No. A pending renewal is not a license. Because the Board's lookup shows the license as expired, diagnosing, treating, prescribing, or holding herself out as a licensed dentist would be unlicensed practice. The fee payment does not cure the missing CE attestation. Exposure includes Board discipline, a cease-and-desist order, possible criminal penalties, insurance and Medicaid credentialing problems, DEA complications, and malpractice coverage disputes. Immediate steps: cancel or reschedule non-emergency appointments; arrange coverage by a licensed dentist for the two acute pulpitis patients and the warfarin extraction; tell staff not to schedule or bill until written confirmation of an active license; and contact the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency for reinstatement instructions. She may ask whether any temporary or limited permit is available, but she must not assume one exists. Patient safety and continuity require an explicit emergency-coverage plan, not a sign on the door.

To restore the license, she must complete the required CE, obtain acceptable proof, submit the attestation and any late fee, and receive written confirmation that the license is active. She should not backdate CE or certify hours she did not complete. If some hours were completed but poorly tracked, she should gather certificates; otherwise she should enroll in Board-approved courses. For the acute-pain patients, she should transfer copies of records and arrange treatment by a licensed dentist who can provide pulpectomy, extraction, or other source control. The warfarin patient needs medical coordination-typically an INR check and prescriber contact-before extraction, and that responsibility belongs to the treating licensed dentist. Dr. Nguyen can help by sending records and communicating, but she cannot personally perform the procedure while unlicensed. She should document all arrangements and follow up to confirm the patients were seen.

She should state clearly that CE records must be truthful and contemporaneous. Backdating a certificate or attesting to hours not completed converts a renewal problem into a falsification and unprofessional-conduct problem. The office manager should place a hold on clinical scheduling until the license is active, preserve the CE tracker and any correspondence with the Board, and stop representing Dr. Nguyen as licensed to insurers or patients. Staff may reschedule patients and explain that the dentist is temporarily unavailable, but they should not disclose unnecessary details. Dr. Nguyen should audit the practice's CE tracking for all licensed staff, create a calendar with renewal deadlines, and keep proof of completion. If the manager made an error, that should be documented factually-not concealed. The corrective plan should be written and followed before the next renewal cycle.