Becoming a dental hygienist in South Dakota or any other state is no easy task. It takes years of study and practice to earn your license. Once you’ve obtained the certification to work as a dental hygienist, you still need to complete continuing education, and working as a hygienist requires you to show great dedication to your patients to make sure you provide optimal dental care and treat them with professionalism and respect. The work you do on a daily basis helps people across the state maintain their dental health and take pride in their smiles.
Once you’ve earned your dental hygienist license and have obtained a job with a South Dakota dental practice, you likely want to do all you can to maintain your license and continue practicing. But sometimes mistakes or lapses in judgment happen, and you can easily find yourself in trouble and your license in jeopardy. Or perhaps a patient has misinterpreted your behavior or simply wants a scapegoat to blame for their poor dental health. Whatever the case, if your dental hygienist license is at risk, you need to do all you can to remedy the situation and secure your professional future.
In South Dakota, the South Dakota Board of Dentistry, which falls under the Department of Health, oversees dental hygienist licenses and is responsible for investigating complaints and pursuing disciplinary action. If you work as a hygienist in this state, you must comply with the board’s regulations and license requirements. The board’s mission is to “protect the health and safety of the consumer public from the services of unqualified dentists, dental hygienists, and registered dental assistants by licensure of qualified persons, enforcement of the statutes, rules, and regulations governing the practice of dentistry, including the inspection of facilities and appropriate resolution of complaints.” As a dental hygienist licensed in South Dakota, if you violate any of the laws and regulations governing your practice, you can be sure the Board of Dentistry will take its responsibilities seriously and come after you.
If you’re practicing in a major city like Sioux Falls, Rapid City, or Aberdeen, having a high volume of patients increases the likelihood that someone will eventually file a complaint against you. But even if you’re working in one of the state’s smaller towns, complaints can still get you into hot water and threaten your licensure. It’s easy to imagine how a disgruntled patient can make false or exaggerated complaints that you’ve acted unprofessionally or negligently. But patients aren’t your only concern. Complaints can also come from coworkers, another healthcare provider, or an insurance company.
If you’re a South Dakota-licensed dental hygienist facing a complaint for misconduct, you need to make sure you quickly take steps to protect your licensure. The Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm should be your first stop when you’re facing disciplinary action. We can protect your rights and help you through the South Dakota Board of Dentistry’s disciplinary process. We have years of experience defending medical professionals in South Dakota and nationwide against accusations that put their licenses at risk. Contact us at 888-535-3686 or complete our confidential contact form to learn more.
Dental Hygienist Licensure and Misconduct in South Dakota
If you hold a South Dakota dental hygienist license, you’ve already completed a Commission on Dental Accreditation-accredited dental hygiene program, passed the state Board of Dentistry’s written exam and a patient-based clinical competency exam, and completed CPR training. Once you have your license, your training doesn’t end there. You must also complete at least 75 hours of continuing education every five-year license period.
As with any medical profession in any state, South Dakota-licensed dental hygienists must adhere to strict guidelines of professional conduct, standards, and ethics. If you violate these regulations, either knowingly or unintentionally, you may be in jeopardy of losing your license. In South Dakota, dental hygienists can face disciplinary action for anything the board deems “professional incompetence.” Among the range of conduct that the South Dakota Board of Dentistry considers punishable, these actions can constitute grounds for disciplinary action against you:
- Negligence. If you provide substandard care, the board may consider you negligent.
- Violation of supervision requirements. South Dakota has specific rules regarding what care a dental hygienist can provide with designated levels of supervision from a dentist. For example, practicing certain activities may require a dentist to be in the room with you.
- Fraud or dishonesty. This can include fraudulent or excessive billing, practicing without a license, or otherwise misrepresenting your qualifications.
- Violations of patient confidentiality. Confidentiality breaches can also include HIPAA violations.
- Substance abuse. You obviously can’t practice under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- Sexual misconduct. If you touch a patient inappropriately or make verbal or physical sexual advances, you can get in big trouble.
What Happens When You Face Disciplinary Action in South Dakota?
The South Dakota Board of Dentistry will accept complaints from anyone who thinks a dental hygienist in the state has violated one of the statutes or administrative rules governing that practice. This means that complaints can come from patients, coworkers, healthcare providers, or insurers. Once the board receives a complaint against a state-licensed dental hygienist, the board can either use its own staff or hire an investigator to look into the matter. You’ll receive notification of the complaint and investigation, and can provide evidence and relevant documents to support your defense. The investigator will likely also interview you, the person making the complaint, and anyone else involved.
If a board member is conducting the investigation and determines there’s been no violation or there’s insufficient evidence to prove it, they can dismiss the complaint, and it won’t go on the public record. If the board dismisses the complaint, the person who made it has 30 days to appeal the decision. Your license will remain valid during this time.
If the investigator decides the complaint is valid, the board and its prosecuting attorney can negotiate an agreed disposition with the licensee, and it will then go on the public record. If the board and licensee can’t come to an agreed disposition, the board and its prosecuting attorney can progress the case to a hearing. A hearing examiner will conduct the hearing, and you’ll have an opportunity to provide evidence, inspect documentation and other evidence the investigator has collected against you, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and request any necessary subpoenas for anyone who can provide evidence that supports your case. You can have legal representation at the hearing.
The board has the right to suspend your license during the disciplinary process before reaching a conclusion if it feels that your continued practice poses a threat to public safety. If this happens, you’re entitled to a hearing within 20 days and may also appeal the suspension.
Even after a hearing, the board can still dismiss the complaints against you. But once the board has determined that you’ve violated the parameters of your license, it can impose any of the following punishments:
- Revoke your license.
- Suspend your license for a specified amount of time.
- Place limitations or conditions on your license, such as limiting what care you’re allowed to administer.
- Issue a censure or letter of reprimand.
- Put you on probation and require professional education related to your violations.
- Impose fines to cover board expenditures related to the investigation and disciplinary action.
- Deny your license application.
If the board suspends or revokes your license, it may reinstate it or issue a new license at its discretion. As the licensee, you may have to pay all the costs associated with these proceedings.
Once the board takes disciplinary action and institutes penalties against you, it becomes part of the public record, available to dental practices and patients. Even if the board shows leniency and gives you a minimal penalty, it can still follow you into your professional future and affect the decisions of potential employers.
The Reality of Disciplinary Actions
When you earned your South Dakota dental hygienist license, you surely learned all about the different types of misconduct and how they could lead to penalties against you. But it may be hard to imagine how it all works in practice. To help you better understand exactly how the South Dakota Board of Dentistry punishes misconduct, here are a few examples of actions the board has taken against dental professionals in the state:
- The Board of Dentistry determined that a dentist committed unprofessional or dishonorable conduct. The disciplinary process resulted in the dentist voluntarily surrendering his license.
- The board found a dentist guilty of substandard patient care. The board put her on probation, issued a letter of reprimand, fined her remediation and retribution costs in excess of $5,000, subjected her to chart review, and prohibited her from using a specific type of dental tool involved in the complaint.
- The board concluded that a registered dental assistant acted unprofessionally or dishonorably, issuing a letter of reprimand and requiring her to participate in a Health Professionals Assistant Program.
- The board found that a dentist provided substandard patient care and acted unprofessionally. According to the Disposition Agreement, the dentist cannot practice with, renew, or reapply for his South Dakota license and had to reimburse the board $70,000.
- After committing fraud and issuing unauthorized prescriptions, a registered dental assistant voluntarily surrendered her certification.
These are just a few examples of the types of misconduct the South Dakota Board of Dentistry considers worthy of disciplinary action, as well as the severity of the penalties. It’s easy to see how quickly mistakes and errors in judgment can not only lead to financial losses but also have long-term detrimental effects on your career in the dental profession.
The LLF National Law Firm Has Your Back
Throughout the disciplinary process, the South Dakota Board of Dentistry will likely have a prosecuting attorney managing the case. The board clearly takes violations seriously, arming itself with legal representation. As a dental hygienist facing this disciplinary process, you, too, should have a legal team to help you through everything, protect your rights, and provide the best defense possible. In fact, the board encourages licensees to have legal counsel present during hearings.
That’s where the LLF National Law Firm comes in. Our Professional License Defense Team has a well-established record of success defending dental hygienists and other medical professionals against accusations that threaten their licenses and careers. We know how to navigate the state-specific disciplinary and legal processes in South Dakota and across the United States and can help you through any South Dakota Board of Dentistry actions against you. The LLF National Law Firm can:
- Help you understand the specific complaints against you and how they violate your license regulations.
- Make sure the South Dakota Board of Dentistry is correctly following its procedures for investigating the complaints and pursuing disciplinary action.
- Protect your rights throughout the disciplinary process.
- Correspond with the South Dakota Board of Dentistry on your behalf.
- Identify and help you gather the evidence that best supports your case and bolsters your defense.
- Show the board why it should dismiss your case.
- Negotiate with the South Dakota Board of Dentistry for a disposition agreement that results in the most lenient penalties possible.
- Represent you at hearings, including examining and cross-examining witnesses and providing evidence and arguments that support your defense.
- Help you decide whether it’s in your best interest to file any appeals.
- Prepare and file appeals on your behalf.
- Give you the best chances for a successful outcome that protects your license and gets your dental hygienist career back on track.
Your dental hygienist license is the foundation of your career, and if you find yourself at risk of losing it, you need to figure out the best plan of action to hold onto it. The Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm is your best bet if you want to come away unscathed and continue working in your chosen profession. Call us at 888-535-3686 or complete our online contact form to schedule a consultation and get started. Your dental hygienist license is too important to risk losing.