Complaint Procedures

Complaint Form
Disclosure of Dental Records

Disciplinary proceedings may be instituted by sworn complaint by any person, including members of the Board and Committee. Any hearing held pursuant to the complaint shall conform to the provisions of the Uniform Licensing Act, the Dental Health Care Act, and the Impaired Dentists and Dental Hygienists Act.

Important Note

The New Mexico Board of Dental Health Care's jurisdiction is limited. It cannot obtain refunds of money paid to licensees, nor necessarily obtain the desired services for you. It can only impose disciplinary measures against a licensee found to have violated the licensing act or rules. The role of the Board is to review and assess allegations brought before them. The Board does not represent the individual Complainant or Respondent as in an attorney client relationship, but serves the public welfare as a whole.

Statute 61-5A-25 Protected Actions and Communications:

  • No member of the board or the committee or any ad hoc committee appointed by the board or committee shall bear liability or be subject to civil damages or criminal prosecutions for any action undertaken or performed within the proper functions of the board or the committee.
  • All written and oral communication made by any person to the board or the committee relating to actual or potential disciplinary action, which includes complaints made to the board or the committee, shall be confidential communications and are not public records for the purposes of the Public Records Act [Chapter 14, Article 3 NMSA 1978]. All data, communications and information acquired, prepared or disseminated by the board or the committee relating to actual or potential disciplinary action or in its investigation of complaints shall not be disclosed except to the extent necessary to carry out the purposes of the board or the committee or in a judicial appeal from the actions of the board or the committee.
  • Information contained in complaint files is public information and subject to disclosure when the board or committee acts on a complaint and it issues a notice of contemplated action.
  • No person or legal entity providing information to the board or the committee, whether as a report, a complaint, or testimony, shall be subject to civil damages or criminal prosecutions.

Disciplinary Proceedings

The Board may fine, deny, revoke, suspend, stipulate, or otherwise limit a license if the Board determines the licensee is guilty of violating any of the provisions of the Act, the Uniform Licensing Act, the Impaired Dentists and Hygienists Act, or these Rules.

The Board may reprimand, censure, or require licensees to fulfill additional continuing education hours within limited time constraints for violations of the Act or Rules.

The following are guidelines that are established for disciplinary action:

  • "Gross incompetence" or "gross negligence" means, but shall not be limited to, a significant departure from the prevailing standard of care in treating patients.
  • "Unprofessional conduct" means, but is not limited to because of enumeration:
    1. Performing, or holding oneself out as able to perform, professional services beyond the scope of one's license and field or fields of competence as established by education, experience, training, or any combination thereof. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of any instrument or device in a manner that is not in accordance with the customary standards and practices of the dental profession;
    2. Failure to refer a patient, after emergency treatment, to his regular dentist and inform the latter of the conditions found and treated;
    3. Failure to release to a patient copies of that patient's records and x-rays;
    4. Failure to seek consultation whenever the welfare of the patient would be safeguarded or advanced by referral to individuals with special skills, knowledge, and experience;
    5. Failure to advise the patient in simple understandable terms of the proposed treatment, the anticipated fee, the expectations of success, and any reasonable alternatives;
    6. Failure of a dentist to comply with the following advertising guidelines:
      • shall not advertise in a false, fraudulent, or misleading manner;
      • shall include in the advertisement the dentist's name, address and telephone number;
      • shall not advertise a practice specialty in a false, fraudulent or misleading manner; and
      • shall not include a specialty in any advertisement unless the dentist has completed an ADA accredited residency program in the specialty advertised or is licensed by the Board to practice the specialty;
    7. Failure to use appropriate infection control techniques and sterilization procedures;
    8. Deliberate and willful failure to reveal, at the request of the Board, the incompetent, dishonest, or corrupt practices of another dentist licensed or applying for licensure by the Board;
    9. Accept rebates, or split fees or commissions from any source associated with the service rendered to a patient; provided, however, the sharing of profits in a dental partnership, association, HMO or DMO, or similar association shall not be construed as fee-splitting, nor shall compensating dental hygienists or dental assistants on a basis of percentage of the fee received for the overall service rendered be deemed accepting a commission;
    10. Prescribe, dispense or administer drugs outside the scope of dental practice;
    11. Charge a patient a fee which is not commensurate with the skill and nature of services rendered, such as to be unconscionable;
    12. Sexual misconduct;
    13. Breach of ethical standards, an inquiry into which the Board will begin by reference to the Code of Ethics of the American Dental Association;
    14. The use of a false, fraudulent or deceptive statement in any document connected with the practice of dentistry;
    15. Employing abusive billing practices;
    16. Fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in any renewal or reinstatement application;
    17. Violation of any order of the Board, including any probation order;
    18. Injudicious prescribing, administration, or dispensing of any drug or medicine;
    19. Failure to report to the Board the surrender of a license to practice in another state or surrender of membership on any medical staff or in any dental or professional association or society, in lieu of, and while under disciplinary investigation by any authority;
    20. Negligent supervision of a dental hygienist or dental assistant;
    21. Cheating on an examination for licensure; or.
    22. Failure to comply with the terms of a signed collaborative practice agreement.
    23. Failure of a dentist of record, or consulting dentist, to communicate with a collaborative practice dental hygienist in an effective professional manner in regard to a shared patient's care under part 17 of these rules.
    24. Assisting a health professional, or being assisted by a health professional that is not licensed to practice by a New Mexico Board, Agency or Commission.
    25. Failure to make available to patients a method to contact the treating dentist or other licensed dentist or emergency agency, when the dentist is not available for patient emergencies.

Mail the complaint form and the authorization for Disclosure of Dental Records form to:

New Mexico Board of Dental Health Care
PO Box 25101
Santa Fe, NM 87504-5101
Dental.Board@state.nm.us