2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 5 - Board of Dental Examiners and College of Dental Surgeons (§§ 81 — 123) › Subchapter I - Board of Dental Examiners (§§ 81 — 95) › § 92 - Exercise of dental surgery

Under the terms of this chapter, any person shall be deemed to be practicing dental surgery if he/she advertises by means of signs, cards, circular letters, pamphlets or newspapers that he/she shall perform examinations of human teeth, maxillary bones, gums, the oral cavity, or adjacent tissue with the intention of performing or having any operation performed on them, except for bona fide dealers established in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico who deal in instruments or supplies used in said surgery, and physicians; or who uses the words or letters “Doctor of Dental Surgery”, “D.D.S.”, or “Doctor of Dental Medicine”, “D.D.M.”, in connection with his/her name, or any other title for the purpose of designating him/herself or causing him/herself to be recognized as an authorized dentist of any of the diseases of the human teeth or maxillary bones, gums, the oral cavity or adjacent tissue; or who extracts teeth or prepares or fills cavities in teeth, perform dental whitening, or corrects dental irregularities, or furnishes or fits artificial teeth, crowns, or bridges as substitutes for natural teeth, or repairs bridges, crowns, or artificial teeth directly to the public, or takes any impression of the human gums in connection with the manufacture of artificial teeth, or administers local or general anesthetics, or administers or prescribes medicinal or other remedies, or practices any procedure used in the teaching of dental surgery in a recognized dental university or college; or uses or takes x-rays for the treatment or diagnosis of said diseases, excepting physicians, either free of charge or for fees, salary, or compensation paid directly or indirectly to such person or to any other person; who performs any operation or treatment of the diseases or lesions of the human teeth, maxillary bones, gums, the oral cavity, or adjacent tissue, or removes calcareous deposits or stains on the same; or adjusts the price of dental or medicinal services or treatment; or practices or professes to practice dental surgery in any of its branches; or prescribes, for the purposes of curing or treating any of the diseases, lesions, deficiencies, deformities, or physical conditions of the human teeth, maxillary bones, gums, the oral cavity, or adjacent tissue, or performs any other operation or makes any other examination for the purpose of performing or permitting the performance of any operation thereon.
Dental surgeons qualified as oral or maxillofacial surgeons shall have the authority to admit and examine their patients, including physical examinations and case histories, and treat and discharge their patients in the hospitals in Puerto Rico. Qualified dentists, under the terms of this section, shall be understood to be dentists who hold a postdoctorate training certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery granted by a hospital or higher education institution, duly certified by the pertinent authorities in Puerto Rico.
History —Aug. 8, 1925, No. 75, p. 550, § 12; Apr. 20, 1929, No. 31, p. 198, § 6; June 18, 1965, No. 39, p. 75, § 2; Oct. 9, 1986, No. 11, p. 817, § 13; Mar. 12, 2010, No. 28, § 1, eff. 90 days after Mar. 12, 2010; May 23, 2012, No. 95, § 1.