Massachusetts Dental Practice Act: Statutory Framework, Definitions, and Board Authority
Statutory framework
The Massachusetts Dental Practice Act is codified at M.G.L. c. 112, §§ 43A–53, and implemented by the Board of Registration in Dentistry through 234 CMR. The Board sits within the Division of Professional Licensure (DPL) in the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation; it is not the Department of Public Health. The Board licenses dentists and dental hygienists, approves continuing education, adopts regulations, issues permits, and adjudicates disciplinary complaints. Its authority is statutory: a regulation or policy cannot expand a power the Legislature did not grant.
Definitions and authority
The statute defines dentistry broadly to include diagnosis, treatment, surgery, and procedures on teeth and associated tissues. Dental hygiene is a distinct scope, and supervision levels are defined in regulation. The Board may reprimand, censure, suspend, revoke, place on probation, and fine. It also issues advisory opinions, which guide practice but do not have the force of statute.
Worked example
A hygienist asks whether a newly marketed device may be used. Reasoning: first ask whether the procedure falls within the statutory definition of dental hygiene; second, check 234 CMR for delegation and supervision; third, confirm the required level of supervision. If the statute is silent and no regulation authorizes the function, the hygienist should not proceed without written Board guidance.
Traps
Do not confuse the Board with DPL administrative staff, DPH, or OSHA. Do not assume an advisory opinion creates new authority. Do not read the broad definition of dentistry as automatically delegable to a hygienist; delegation must be express.