Kentucky Dental Practice Act: statutory structure, definitions, and scope
This domain tests the statutory skeleton of Kentucky dental regulation: what counts as dentistry, who may practice, and how the Board’s rules fit under the statute.
The two-layer structure
- KRS Chapter 313 is the Dental Practice Act. It creates the Board, defines practice, sets licensure and discipline authority, and authorizes regulations.
- 201 KAR Chapter 8 contains the Board’s administrative regulations: licensure procedures, continuing education, infection control, records, and delegation details.
- A Board regulation cannot contradict the statute; when they appear to conflict, the statute controls.
What “dentistry” covers
KRS 313.010 defines dentistry broadly: diagnosis, treatment planning, surgery, prescribing, radiographs, appliances, and holding oneself out as a dentist. The definition is not limited to procedures done in an office. A dentist physically outside Kentucky who treats a patient located in Kentucky is practicing in Kentucky and needs a Kentucky license unless a specific exception applies.
Scope and delegation
Only a licensed dentist may perform the full scope of dentistry. The dentist may delegate selected tasks to hygienists and assistants, but retains responsibility for the patient and cannot delegate diagnosis, treatment planning, or surgical procedures. A task is lawful only if the delegatee holds the credential the Board requires for that task.
Worked example
An uncertified assistant places sealants while the dentist is in the office. The dentist argues that “the dentist was right there.” Reasoning: presence satisfies only the supervision component. Sealant placement is an expanded function that requires the assistant to hold the required Board credential; without it, the act is unlicensed practice, and the dentist has aided it.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating “supervision” as a single concept; Kentucky distinguishes direct, general, and public-health supervision.
- Assuming a dental assistant is fully licensed; Kentucky uses credential-specific expanded duties.
- Forgetting that prescribing and radiographs are within the statutory definition of dentistry.
- Ignoring telehealth: the patient’s location, not the dentist’s, generally determines where practice occurs.