The Lento Law Firm Defends Minnesota Dentists
You are the proud holder of a professional license from the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. You know the great time, expense, and effort obtaining your license took. If the Board of Dentistry has notified you alleging your misconduct, you need to safeguard your enormous investment. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team now. We are available whether you practice in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Bloomington, Duluth, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Woodbury, Lakeville, Blaine, Maple Grove, St. Cloud, or any other Minnesota location. Call 888.535.3686 or use the online form now for Minnesota dentist disciplinary defense.
The Rewards of Minnesota Dental Practice
Minnesota is a great state in which to establish a dental practice, with a strong and diverse economy, a large population interested in good health, and great cities with arts, sports, entertainment, and culture. You chose wisely when locating your dental practice in such a vibrant state with a beautiful natural environment and great recreational, social, and professional opportunities. You are likely building and enjoying a thriving dental practice that you would not want to harm or give up. You, your family, your dental patients, your employees, and your community all depend on you.
The Risks of Minnesota Board of Dentistry Discipline
But to preserve those rich dental practice opportunities, you must maintain your license in good standing with the Minnesota Board of Dentistry. As thriving as your practice may be, license discipline, suspension, or revocation can bring your practice to its knees or even bring it to a halt, destroying everything for which you've been working. If you face a complaint from a patient, patient's relative, colleague, employee, or member of the public, the Minnesota Board of Dentistry will devote its full resources to investigating and prosecuting all appropriate disciplinary charges to protect patients, the public, and the profession. Take disciplinary charges seriously. Know what they can do to your practice, and know what you have at stake.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Licensure
Minnesota has abundant laws, rules, and regulations governing the practice of dentistry within the state's borders. Minnesota's Dental Practice Act establishes the regulatory structure in which you practice. The Act establishes the Minnesota Board of Dentistry, defines the practice of dentistry, and authorizes the Board to license qualified dentists who pass the Board's examination and meet all other requirements, including showing good character. The Act further requires that you obtain and maintain a license if you intend any dental practice within the state. Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.11 expressly makes it unlawful to practice dentistry in the state without a current Board of Dentistry license. Don't doubt the Minnesota Board of Dentistry's authority to control, discipline, and even suspend or revoke your license.
Nationwide Stakes to Minnesota Dental License Discipline
Your Minnesota license disciplinary proceeding doesn't just affect your dental practice in Minnesota. Your license proceeding has nationwide implications. If you lose your Minnesota dental license to disciplinary sanctions, you may not be able to practice dentistry in any other state. Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.06 authorizes the Board of Dentistry to license dentists on the basis of credentials earned in another state. Minnesota, in other words, offers license reciprocity. You may have licensed in Minnesota using your dental license from another state. Or you may intend to take your Minnesota license to another state to begin a new dental practice. Or you may already hold multiple state licenses. Licensing officials will require you to disclose discipline in other states. They will also search disciplinary records to discover discipline that an applicant has not disclosed. Don't expect to run from Minnesota disciplinary charges. Instead, stand and fight with our help.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Discipline
Minnesota's Board of Dentistry does more than just license dentists. It also disciplines, suspends, and revokes licenses in appropriate cases where its officials find misconduct. Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 expressly authorizes the Board to refuse a license, refuse to renew a license, or suspend or revoke a license when Board disciplinary officials find disqualifying misconduct. The Board may also limit your license, such as to practice only certain procedures or to practice only under direct supervision. The Board may also impose conditions on your license, such as requiring that you undergo further education and training, submit to psychological or substance abuse evaluation, or undergo counseling or treatment. The Minnesota Board of Dentistry promulgates detailed rules and regulations carrying out that statutory authority.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Disciplinary Actions
Minnesota's Board of Dentistry doesn't just hold the authority and power to discipline its licensed dentists. The Board of Dentistry also wields that power. The Board publishes its disciplinary actions for all the world to see. The Board's website lists hundreds of disciplinary actions the Board has taken against its licensed dentists. The Board does more than just publish the disciplined dentist's name. The Board includes the entire order with its factual findings of the wrongs each disciplined dentist committed, the statute or regulation the dentist violated, and the sanction the Board imposed. You won't likely be able to hide any discipline that you suffer. Instead, your patients, employers, colleagues, friends, family members, and the public will be able to read the details of your misconduct. Don't ignore disciplinary charges. Let our attorneys help you fight the charges.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Disciplinary Discretion
Fortunately, Minnesota's Board of Dentistry has discretion in the discipline that it imposes. That discretion gives our attorneys ample opportunity to negotiate and advocate for outcomes that do not affect your ability to practice and may not affect your professional reputation and relationships. License suspension and revocation are potential penalties. Suspension and revocation mean interrupting and ending your dental practice for the duration unless and until you obtain license reinstatement. But Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 expressly or impliedly authorizes these alternative sanctions, any of which may preserve your ability to practice:
- temporary license suspension with specific conditions that you may be able to show you have met before the suspension takes effect;
- limitation on your license, such as practicing only certain procedures, which you may decide is within your practice scope and goals in any case;
- conditions on your license, such as that you complete an evaluation that you may have already completed before the conditions take effect;
- counseling or treatment that you may welcome and from which you expect to benefit;
- additional education or training that you need and welcome and from which you expect to benefit;
- probation, private reprimand, warning, caution, apology, and restitution.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Consent Resolutions
Dental boards may be loath to severely discipline an earnest, skilled, accomplished, and respected dentist when the dentist shows appropriate contrition and a plan that will protect patients and the public. Consent resolutions or agreements are one way in which the disciplinary officials of the Minnesota Board of Dentistry may resolve disciplinary charges in appropriate cases. A consent resolution is a signed agreement between you and the Board, setting forth the terms and conditions of your licensure. Consent agreements may be especially creative in their protective and restitution terms, employing any of the above options and other options our attorneys may generate and propose.
Consent Resolution Drawbacks and Risks
Beware of agreeing to a consent resolution without our skilled and experienced representation. Disciplinary officials may propose a consent resolution that requires you to relinquish your license for a definite or indefinite period. Any interruption of your dental practice will generally require notice to the patients of your discipline, severely affecting your reputation, relationships, and income. The proposed consent agreement may also impose conditions that you cannot readily meet, potentially leading to your inability to regain your license. Let us help you negotiate a consent agreement that preserves your license and practice.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Disciplinary Grounds
Minnesota's Board of Dentistry cannot simply discipline you for whatever grounds the disciplinary officials make up. Instead, statutes and regulations list the permissible grounds for discipline. Those lists, though, are long and include many general terms open to broad interpretations. The Board's notice to you of disciplinary charges should list the grounds. If the notice does not, then our attorneys can help you gain a specification of the grounds so that you know what you are facing. Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 lists fifteen discipline grounds. Minnesota Administrative Code Rule 3100.6200 expands those grounds with another dozen examples. Consider the following summary of a few of those many grounds and how our attorneys may be able to help you defend these charges.
Credentials Fraud as Grounds for Minnesota Dentist Discipline
Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 Subdivision 1 lists “fraud or deception in connection with the practice of dentistry or the securing of a license certificate” as grounds for discipline. Credentials fraud is a serious offense to licensing officials because of the risk the dentist will lack the education, knowledge, and training and thus be a direct risk to patients. Our defense may include showing that your license application was accurate in every respect, that you have the credentials your application claimed, and that any omission from your application was inadvertent rather than intentional and did not affect your fitness to practice.
Criminal Conviction as Grounds for Minnesota Dentist Discipline
Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 Subdivision 1 lists conviction of a felony or gross misdemeanor as grounds for discipline. Violent crimes like assault and battery and sexual assault threaten patient safety. Crimes of dishonesty like criminal fraud and embezzlement threaten financial integrity. Our defense may involve showing that you did not suffer such a conviction, that the court reversed or expunged the conviction, that you received a pardon, or that the crime did not relate to dental practice and that you have been rehabilitated.
Disability as Grounds for Minnesota Dentist Discipline
Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 Subdivision 1 lists “any physical, mental, emotional, or other disability which adversely affects” dental practice as grounds for discipline. Our defense may show that you did not suffer a disability, that any disability was unrelated to dental practice, that you have recovered from your disability, or that your practice could safely accommodate your disability.
Unsanitary Conditions as Grounds for Minnesota Dentist Discipline
Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 Subdivision 1 lists “failure to maintain adequate safety and sanitary conditions for a dental office in accordance with the standards established by the rules of the board” as grounds for discipline. Our defense may show that your dental practice was safe and sanitary, that any unsanitary condition was due to the actions of others, that you have corrected any unsafe or unsanitary condition, and that no patient suffered harm or risk of harm.
Other Discipline as Grounds for Minnesota Dentist Discipline
Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 Subdivision 1 lists license discipline in another state as grounds for discipline. Our defense may involve showing that you did not suffer discipline in another state, that the licensing authority reversed and removed the discipline, that the disciplinary grounds would not have been misconduct in Minnesota, or that you have rehabilitated your practice from the discipline.
Conduct Unbecoming a Licensee as Grounds for Minnesota Dentist Discipline
Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 Subdivision 1 lists “conduct unbecoming a person licensed to practice dentistry” as grounds for discipline. Minnesota Administrative Code Rule 3100.6200 articulates a dozen such forms of unbecoming conduct, including things like gross incompetence, sexual advances toward patients, billing irregularities, falsifying patient records, fraud on patients, and failing to maintain sanitary conditions. Our defense of those charges would depend on the nature of the allegations.
Minnesota Board of Dentistry Disciplinary Procedures
If you face disciplinary charges, your constitutional rights protecting your liberty and property interests against arbitrary and capricious government action demand that Minnesota's Board of Dentistry afford you due process. Minnesota Statutes Section 150A.08 requires the Board's disciplinary officials to follow the state's Administrative Procedure Act for fair notice and hearing before an independent administrative law judge on any disciplinary charges that you contest. We can help you invoke those protective procedures, including presenting your defense evidence and cross-examining adverse witnesses. We may also help you appeal any adverse decision and seek the available court review.
Premier Minnesota Dentist Disciplinary Defense
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available to defend you in Minnesota Board of Dentistry disciplinary proceedings, whether your practice is in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Bloomington, Duluth, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Woodbury, Lakeville, Blaine, Maple Grove, St. Cloud, or any other Minnesota location. We have helped hundreds of professionals nationwide defend and defeat disciplinary charges. Call 888.535.3686 or use the online form now for skilled Minnesota dentist disciplinary defense.
