Practicing as a dental hygienist in Kentucky can bring its due rewards. Dental hygienists enjoy good patient relationships, high professional standing, and rewarding professional income. They also generally have good job security, especially in Kentucky with its friendly and stable population, positive social structure, strong families, good economy, and sophisticated healthcare. And no one handed your dental hygiene practice to you. You earned it with a substantial investment in your degree, examination, and licensure. But Kentucky Board of Dentistry disciplinary charges against your dental hygienist license can ruin everything for which you’ve worked. Get the license defense representation you need. Retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team to effectively defend your Kentucky Board of Dentistry disciplinary charges. Our dedicated and skilled attorneys are available in Louisville, Lexington, Fayette, Bowling Green, Owensboro, Covington, Georgetown, Richmond, Florence, Elizabethtown, Nicholasville, Hopkinsville, Londonderry, Hudson, Bedford, Keene, Portsmouth, and across the rest of Kentucky. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now for the highly qualified representation you need to preserve your Kentucky dental hygienist practice against disciplinary charges.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist License Requirement
Your challenge is straightforward: you need your Kentucky Board of Dentistry dental hygiene license to work as a dental hygienist in the state. You cannot practice as a dental hygienist in Kentucky without your license. Kentucky Dental Practice Act Section 313.070 states plainly that you cannot practice in the state without your dental hygienist license in good standing, making it unlawful and a crime to do so. The Act’s Section 313.080 repeats that it is unlawful to practice without a license and makes it a Class B misdemeanor to do so, raising it to a Class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense. Kentucky punishes Class B misdemeanors with up to a $250 fine and ninety days in jail, raising it to $500 and twelve months in jail for a Class A misdemeanor. Don’t practice without your license. Don’t lose your license. Get our defense help.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Licensing Authority
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry has statutory authority under Kentucky Dental Practice Act Section 313.030 to license your dental hygiene practice in the state. The Act’s Section 313.021 empowers the Board of Dentistry not just to license dental hygienists but also to renew licenses every two years, ensuring that you maintain your qualifications. The Act’s Section 313.020 requires the Board of Dentistry to maintain two dental hygienists on the Board along with the dentist members, to recommend and adopt rules regulating dental hygiene. The Board of Dentistry is your board, not just your supervising dentist’s board. The Act’s Section 313.040 states the scope of dental hygienist practice and other details, as regulated by the Board. You must deal effectively with the Kentucky Board of Dentistry to retain and renew your dental hygiene license. Let us help you do so.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist License Discipline
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry not only has the authority to license your dental hygiene practice but also to discipline your license, from probation and reprimand right up through license restriction, suspension, or revocation. Kentucky Dental Practice Act Section 313.080 authorizes the Board of Dentistry to discipline your dental hygiene license on any of the many stated grounds. Section 313.080 states that you “shall be subject to disciplinary action by the board” for committing one of the listed violations, suggesting that the Board of Dentistry has discretion whether to discipline and, if so, what sanction to impose. Section 313.100 lists the many sanctions the Board of Dentistry may impose within its discretion. Board of Dentistry discretion gives our attorneys the opportunity to advocate for remedial measures rather than punitive sanctions, even in cases where you committed the alleged violation. We can, of course, also contest that you committed any violation at all.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Misconduct
Kentucky Dental Practice Act Section 313.080 lists sixteen separate disciplinary grounds on which the Board of Dentistry may discipline your dental hygiene license. The listed grounds both state the authority that the Board of Dentistry has to identify violations for discipline and mark the common forms of misconduct in which dental hygienists engage. The Board of Dentistry should not be charging you for violations that Section 313.080 does not include. The sixteen listed grounds for discipline are:
- violate dental hygienist regulations the Board of Dentistry promulgates or statutes impose;
- use fraud or deceit to obtain or attempt to obtain a dental hygiene license, otherwise known as credential fraud, or gain a license by Board of Dentistry mistake;
- act negligently with respect to dental hygiene standards of practice;
- cannot practice dental hygiene with reasonable skill and safety, or are unfit or incompetent for practice;
- abuse, misuse, or misappropriate drugs available to you in the course of dental hygiene practice;
- falsify or fail to make dental hygiene or dental records as standards require;
- suffer a misdemeanor conviction for acts bearing directly on your dental hygiene qualifications or abilities;
- suffer misdemeanor conviction for fraud, deceit, or physical harm to or endangerment of others;
- suffer a misdemeanor conviction for an offense involving a patient;
- suffer dental hygienist license discipline in another state for an act that the Kentucky Board of Dentistry would also discipline;
- suffer discipline of any other license in Kentucky or another state for which the Kentucky Board of Dentistry would discipline your dental hygiene license;
- violate an order of the Board of Dentistry;
- suffer National Practitioner Databank listing on a finding of abuse, neglect, or property misappropriation;
- fail to notify the Board of Dentistry in writing of changes in name, address, employment, or telephone within thirty days of the change;
- violate Kentucky statutes regarding patient records;
- fail to report to the Board of Dentistry negative outcomes to anesthesia that require hospitalization.
Retain us the moment you learn of any of the above disciplinary charges. Even if you committed the violations that the Board of Dentistry alleges, we may be able to show that you should not suffer a disciplinary sanction. We may be able to negotiate alternative remedial measures that you can readily complete or have already completed, to avoid any discipline, keep your record clean, and maintain your employment and reputation.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Complaints
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry invites anyone to make a complaint against its licensed dental hygienists. The complaint must be in writing, state the alleged wrongs, and be signed by the complainant. The Board of Dentistry maintains an online complaint form. Who complains against you can matter in whether the Board of Dentistry pursues an investigation and enters a formal disciplinary charge. Patients who complain may not know the dental hygienist’s standard of care. Nor would their family members or members of the public who report your alleged wrongdoing outside of the workplace. But complaints by your dentist supervisor, dental hygienist colleagues, and employer representatives may lead to prompt investigation and disciplinary charges because of the qualifications of the complainants and their ability to closely observe your hygienist practice. The Board of Dentistry reviews complaints for merit and assigns an investigator only to complaints that appear to allege a violation of dental hygiene standards, including especially the disciplinary grounds that Section 313.080 states. Retain us as soon as you learn of a complaint so that we can help you identify, secure, and preserve defense evidence. We may also be able to diplomatically intercede with the complainant, your employer, Board officials, and others to head off an unnecessary investigation.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Disciplinary Investigation
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry assigns an investigator only to complaints that the Board determines to have arguable merit. The investigator is likely to interview the complainant for additional details and to determine credibility, and to interview your colleagues, supervisor, employer representative, or others who may have observations, information, and documentation related to your alleged wrong. The investigator may choose to interview those others and obtain documentation before contacting you for an interview, or may not interview you at all. You may hear from those others that you are under investigation. The Board of Dentistry will review the investigator’s report to determine whether to proceed with formal disciplinary charges.
Response to Kentucky Dental Hygienist Investigation
If you retain us as soon as you learn of a Kentucky Board of Dentistry investigation, we can help you identify, secure, and preserve your defense evidence. We can also help you review that evidence and the circumstances to be sure that you are well informed about the material facts and context for the investigation before you submit to any interview. The Board of Dentistry may construe against you any errors or omissions you make in any interview or response related to the investigation. We can help ensure that your statements are truthful, accurate, complete, and non-contradictory.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Disciplinary Hearing
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry assures dental hygienists facing disciplinary charges that you have the right to a formal hearing with substantial procedural protections satisfying your due process rights. Those procedures include that you receive a copy of the complaint, get to review the investigation report, and understand the nature and details of the charges against you before appearing for the hearing. The hearing makes a record of the testimony and exhibits. You have the right to call witnesses and question adverse witnesses. The Board of Dentistry makes its decision based on the hearing evidence.
Defending Kentucky Dental Hygienist Charges
Avoid retaining an unqualified representative for your Kentucky Board of Dentistry disciplinary hearing, such as a local criminal defense lawyer or civil litigator who does not have the knowledge, skill, or experience to effectively advocate in an administrative setting. Our attorneys’ focus on professional license defense gives them the substantial knowledge, skill, and experience you need for your best disciplinary outcome. Our reputation and relationships can ensure that disciplinary officials trust and rely on our representations, and communicate and negotiate with us toward early voluntary relief. We can also attend your formal hearing to present your defense case, cross-examine adverse witnesses, and obtain your best possible hearing outcome.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Post-Hearing Relief
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry acknowledges that a dental hygienist suffering a disciplinary sanction before the Board has a right to an administrative appeal. If you have already lost your hearing, let us pursue your appeal rights. We can obtain the hearing transcript, review it for substantive or procedural errors, draft the appeal brief articulating those errors, and conduct the appeal argument or hearing for reversal of your disciplinary sanction. If you have already lost your appeal, we may be able to obtain civil court relief.
Mitigating Kentucky Dental Hygienist Sanctions
Even if you must admit to violations or the Board of Dentistry finds that you committed violations, we may be able to make a good case for mitigating and eliminating any disciplinary sanctions. We may be able to show the Board that you have a strong academic and employment record, vital hygienist practice serving needy patients, no other disciplinary record, and strong skills and good character.
Kentucky Dental Hygienist Disciplinary Impacts
Don’t ignore the potentially severe collateral consequences of the Kentucky Board of Dentistry discipline when determining how to respond to disciplinary charges. In addition to losing your dental hygienist license, you could lose your employment, income, reputation, and relationships. Losing your license in Kentucky may affect licenses you hold in other states and your ability to gain a license in other states. Let us help you defend and defeat your disciplinary charges so that you don’t have to face severe collateral impacts.
Premier Kentucky Dental Hygienist License Defense
To effectively defend your Kentucky Board of Dentistry disciplinary charges, retain the LLF National Law Firm’s premier Professional License Defense Team. We help hundreds of dental hygienists and other health professionals successfully defend license disciplinary charges in Kentucky and nationwide. Call 888.535.3686 or complete this contact form now.