Georgia Dental Malpractice and Fraud in Atlanta

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:

1. Operates or performs part of any dental operation of any kind upon the human oral cavity, teeth, gingiva, alveolar process, maxilla, mandible or associated structures, or associated contiguous masticatory structures for the treatment of diseases or lesions of such structures;
2. Extracts teeth or attempts to correct a malposition thereof;
3. Fills or crowns a human tooth or teeth;
4. Does any dental operation whatsoever on the human oral cavity, teeth, gingiva, alveolar process, maxilla, mandible or associated structures, or associated contiguous masticatory structures;
5. Examines any human oral cavity, teeth, gingiva, alveolar process, maxilla, mandible or associated structures, or associated contiguous masticatory structures or takes an impression thereof for the purpose of diagnosing, treating, or operating upon the same;
6. Supplies, makes, fits, repairs, adjusts, or relines, directly for or to an ultimate user of the product in the State of Georgia, any appliance, cap, covering, prosthesis, or cosmetic covering, as defined by rules and regulations established by the board, usable on or as human teeth unless such provision, production, fit, repair, adjustment, or reline of such product is ordered by and returned to a licensed dentist or unless such product is used solely for theatrical purposes as defined by rules and regulations established by the board;
7. Undertakes to do or perform any physical evaluation of a patient in his or her office or in a hospital, clinic, or other medical or dental facility prior to, incident to, and appropriate to the performance of any dental services or oral or maxillofacial surgery;
8. Diagnoses dental radiographs or makes radiographs except for use by a licensed dentist or a licensed physician; or
9. By any means whatsoever makes it known, implies, or holds out to the public in any fashion that such person will do any of the operations, procedures, or services set forth in this subsection.