Request By:
R. B. Thompson, D.M.D.
Executive Director
Kentucky Board of Dentistry
2106 Bardstown Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; John Stephen Kirby, Assistant Attorney General
This letter is in response to your letter of June 22, 1982, requesting an opinion on whether an out-of-state dentist, not licensed in Kentucky, may advertise in the yellow pages of a Kentucky phone book. Your question centers around KRS 313.010 (2). That section reads as follows:
"(2) Any person shall be regarded as 'practicing dentistry' who, for a fee, salary or other reward paid, or to be paid either to himself, or to another person, performs or advertises to perform, dental operations of any kind, or who diagnoses or treats diseases or lesions of human teeth or jaws, or attempts to correct malpositions thereof, or who diagnoses or treats disorders, or deficiencies of the oral cavity and adjacent associated structures, or who takes impressions of the human teeth or jaws to be used directly in the fabrication of any intraoral appliance, or shall construct, supply, reproduce or repair any prosthetic denture, bridge, artificial restoration, appliance or other structure to be used or worn as a substitute for natural teeth, except upon the written laboratory procedure work order of a licensed dentist and constructed upon or by the use of casts or models made from an impression taken by a licensed dentist, or who shall advertise, offer, sell or deliver any such substitute or the services rendered in the construction, reproduction, supply or repair thereof to any person other than a licensed dentist, or who places or adjusts such substitute in the oral cavity of another, or who uses the words 'dentist, ' 'dental surgeon,' the letters 'D.D.S.,' 'D.M.D.,' or other letters or title in connection with his name, which in any way represents him as being engaged in the practice of dentistry. " [Emphasis added].
It is implicit in the Dental Act that the license issued under the authority of the Act is for the practice of dentistry in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The practice of dentistry as defined in KRS 313.010(2) includes advertising "to perform dental operations of any kind." The question then is, is the advertising by an out-of-state dentist in the Commonwealth, to perform dental operations outside the Commonwealth, the practice of dentistry within the Commonwealth. As has been stated the Dental Act grants a license to qualified individuals to practice dentistry only within the Commonwealth. The purpose of the Act is to regulate licensees within the Commonwealth and protect Kentucky citizens from acts performed, by unlicensed individuals, in the Commonwealth.
Since the individual advertising is offering to perform the dental procedures outside the Commonwealth it would appear that the dental licensing statutes would not be applicable. This is not to imply that individuals may advertise in Kentucky to perform dental acts outside Kentucky, in any fashion they may desire. Any such advertising, which is deceptive, would be subject to the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act and action by the Attorney General's Division of Consumer Protection. In adaition, the individual so advertising must be in conformity with the licensing laws of the state within which he or she is offering to perform the dental acts. Violations of those statutes should be reported to the licensing state of the advertiser or the state in which the advertiser has offered to perform the dental acts.
Should the advertiser begin to perform dental acts within the Commonwealth, or advertise to perform dental acts within the Commonwealth, then the Kentucky dental licensing law would be applicable.