The Lapsed License and the Continuing-Education Arithmetic
Dr. Novak has held a Michigan dental license since 2003. In 2021 she took an extended leave to care for her mother and did not renew her license at the last renewal cycle. She now wants to return to clinical practice. During the lapse she completed 48 hours of continuing education: 20 hours of clinical dentistry, 10 hours of practice management, 8 hours of CPR/BLS (her card is current), 6 hours of infection control, and 4 hours of personal wellness. She never took a Michigan jurisprudence examination; she was licensed before that requirement took effect, or so she believes. She also has an active Ohio license and a 2019 misdemeanor DUI conviction that she did not report to the Michigan Board at the time. She asks whether she can begin seeing patients next week while her reinstatement application is pending, and whether her 48 hours will satisfy the CE requirement.
1. May Dr. Novak practice while her reinstatement application is pending? What are the consequences if she does?
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No. A lapsed Michigan license is not a license. Practicing dentistry, or holding oneself out as a dentist, without a current license is unlicensed practice and can be prosecuted; it is also grounds to deny the reinstatement application and to impose discipline. An active Ohio license does not authorize practice in Michigan because licensure is state-specific. Dr. Novak must wait until LARA issues a reinstated license. If she sees patients 'next week,' she and any supervising dentist who allows it face Board action, civil liability, and possible insurance coverage problems. The safe course is to apply for reinstatement immediately, pay the fee, submit fingerprints and verifications, and not perform any clinical services, including chart review that amounts to diagnosis, until the license is active. She can attend CE and complete administrative tasks that do not constitute practice.
2. How should the 48 CE hours be evaluated against Michigan's requirements, and what else must she complete?
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Michigan dentists must complete 60 hours of continuing education per three-year license cycle, including 2 hours in pain and symptom management for prescribers; dental hygienists have a separate 36-hour requirement. CPR/BLS is a separate licensure requirement, and the Board may not count it toward the 60 hours, so she should not assume it does. Not all 48 hours will count. The 20 clinical hours and 6 infection-control hours likely qualify, for 26. Practice management may qualify if the Board accepts it as related to the practice of dentistry, but 10 hours is too much to assume; personal wellness probably does not qualify. That leaves her short of 60. She should obtain the Board's approved-provider list and CE categories, complete additional clinical or pain-management hours, and keep certificates for audit. Reinstatement after a long lapse may also require the jurisprudence examination, and the Board may require a refresher or reexamination. She should not assume her old license grandfathered her out of the exam.
3. How should she address the DUI, the late reporting, and the jurisprudence exam on her application?
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She should disclose the 2019 DUI and the lapse on the reinstatement application and provide court records, proof of completion of any alcohol program, and a written explanation. Concealment or a false answer is a separate violation and can itself justify denial. The Board evaluates criminal history case by case under the Public Health Code; a single misdemeanor DUI does not automatically disqualify her, but she must show rehabilitation and current fitness. She should also explain the late reporting of the DUI and correct the record. On the jurisprudence exam, she should verify with LARA whether it is required; if it is, she must pass it before licensure. She should not practice while the application is pending. A consultation with a health-law attorney is prudent, especially because the DUI was not reported at the time. The overall strategy is transparency, completion of CE, and a clean reinstatement record.