Advertising, Fee Setting, and Business Practice Restrictions
This section covers Nevada rules on dental advertising, fee representations, and business arrangements that can trigger discipline.
Advertising rules
Nevada allows advertising but prohibits false, deceptive, or misleading statements. Ads must not guarantee results, misrepresent credentials, or create unjustified expectations. Price advertising must be specific and disclose material limitations; a "$49 cleaning" ad that actually means an exam and X-ray, with periodontal treatment extra, can be misleading if the terms are buried. Testimonials and before/after images require care and patient authorization. License status must be truthful.
Fees and business practices
Dentists set their own fees, but fee splitting with non-dentists for patient referrals is prohibited. Charging for services not rendered, billing for another provider's work, and "no insurance" discounts that misstate usual fees can violate the Act. The practice of dentistry must be owned and controlled consistent with Nevada's dental corporation and ownership rules; non-dentist investors cannot control clinical judgment.
Worked example
A practice advertises "free whitening for new patients" but requires a $300 exam and X-ray that is not disclosed. The ad is misleading because the material condition is hidden. The fix is to state the total cost and conditions clearly in the ad itself.
Traps
Don't assume puffery is protected; material omissions count. Don't let a non-dentist owner set clinical quotas or dictate treatment. Keep fee schedules consistent with insurance submissions; a "usual fee" that differs from the billed fee can look like fraud.