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The dishonorable conduct section is intended to protect the
public from dangerous, unethical, and illegal conduct of licensees.
The purpose of this section is to identify unprofessional or dishonorable
behaviors of a licensee which the Board believes are likely to pose
a threat to the public. Actual injury to a patient need not be established
for a licensee to be in violation of this section. Behavior constituting
dishonorable conduct includes, but is not limited to:
(1)Criminal conduct--including but not limited to
conviction of a misdemeanor involving fraud or a felony under federal
law or the law of any state as outlined in Chapter 101 of this title.
(2)Deception or misrepresentation--engages in deception
or misrepresentation:
(A)in soliciting or obtaining patronage; or
(B)in obtaining a fee.
(3)Fraud in obtaining a license--obtains a license
by fraud or misrepresentation or participates in a conspiracy to procure
a license, registration, or certification for an unqualified person.
(4)Misconduct involving drugs or alcohol--actions
or conduct that include, but are not limited to:
(A)providing dental services to a patient while the
licensee is impaired through the use of drugs, narcotics, or alcohol;
(B)addicted to or habitually intemperate in the use
of alcoholic beverages or drugs;
(C)improperly obtained, possessed, or used habit-forming
drugs or narcotics including self-prescription of drugs;
(D)grossly over prescribes, dispenses, or administers
narcotic drugs, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances;
(E)prescribes, dispenses, or administers narcotic
drugs, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances to or for a person
who is not his or her dental patient; or
(F)prescribes, dispenses, or administers narcotic
drugs, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances to a person for a
non-dental purpose, whether or not the person is a dental patient.
(5)Assisting another in engaging in the unauthorized
practice of dentistry or dental hygiene--holds a dental license and
employs, permits, or has employed or permitted a person not licensed
to practice dentistry to practice dentistry in an office of the dentist
that is under the dentist's control or management.
(6)Failure to comply with applicable laws, rules,
regulations, and orders or remedial plans--violates or refuses to
comply with a law relating to the regulation of dentists, dental hygienists,
or dental assistants; fails to cooperate with a Board investigation;
or fails to comply with the terms of a Board Order or remedial plan.
(7)Inability to practice safely--is physically or
mentally incapable of practicing in a manner that is safe for the
person's dental patients.
(8)Discipline of a licensee by another state board--holds
a license or certificate to practice dentistry or dental hygiene in
another state and the examining board of that state:
(A)reprimands the person;
(B)suspends or revokes the person's license or certificate
or places the person on probation; or
(C)imposes another restriction on the person's practice.
(9)Failure to comply with Medicaid, insurance, or
other regulatory laws--knowingly provides or agrees to provide dental
care in a manner that violates a federal or state law that:
(A)regulates a plan to provide, arrange for, pay for,
or reimburse any part of the cost of dental care services; or
(B)regulates the business of insurance.
(10)Improper delegation--improperly delegates any
task to any individual who is not permitted to perform the task by
law, this chapter, or practice restrictions imposed by Board Order.
(11)Unprofessional conduct--engages in conduct that
has become established through professional experience as likely to
disgrace, degrade, or bring discredit upon the licensee or the dental
profession.
(12)Failure to postpone all dental
surgeries and procedures that are not medically necessary to diagnose
or correct a serious medical condition of, or to preserve the life
of, a patient who without timely performance of the dental surgery
or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences
or death, as determined by the patient's dentist;
(A)Provided, however, that this prohibition shall
not apply to any dental procedure that, if performed in accordance
with the commonly accepted standard of clinical practice, would not
deplete the hospital capacity or the personal protective equipment
needed to cope with the COVID-19 disaster; or
(B)Any dental surgery or procedure performed in a
licensed health care facility that has certified in writing to Texas
HHSC both:
(i)that it will reserve at least 25% of its hospital
capacity for treatment of COVID-19 patients, accounting for the range
of clinical severity of COVID-19 patients; and
(ii)that it will not request any PPE from any public
source -- whether federal, state, or local -- for the duration of
the COVID-19 disaster as determined by the Governor.
The agency certifies that legal counsel
has reviewed the emergency adoption and found it to be within the
state agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on April 21, 2020
TRD-202001551 Casey Nichols
General Counsel
State Board of Dental Examiners
Effective date: April 21, 2020
Expiration date: June 19, 2020
For further information, please call: (512) 305-9380
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