According to recent news coverage and the Fulton County Deputy District Attorney, a dental “practitioner” in northeast Atlanta has been arrested and accused of, among other things, of practicing dentistry without a license. (WSB-TV, October 3, 2024).As the story unfolded, patients showed up expecting dental work, but were instead surprised to see district attorney investigators and local police who had raided the dental offices.
Dentistry in Georgia means “the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment, or any combination thereof, whether using surgical or nonsurgical procedures, of diseases, disorders, or conditions, or any combination thereof, of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area, or the adjacent and associated structures, or any combination thereof, and their impact on the human body provided by a dentist, within the scope of his or her education, training, and experience, in accordance with the ethics of the profession and applicable law, including, but not limited to, the acts specified in Section 43-11-17 of the Georgia Code.” In order to practice dentistry in Georgia, one must be a graduate of an accredited dental school (a school or college or university with an education program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association), and be a dentist licensed and in good standing in this state pursuant to Chapter 11 of Title 43 of the Georgia Code. The Georgia Board of Dentistry is charged with examining dental applicants, issuing dental licenses and investigating dental complaints made by the public.
Under the Code, any person who performs any of the following procedures, operations, or services shall be regarded as practicing dentistry within the meaning of chapter 11: