One dentist's take on what to do about the rash of imposter dentists

Being held to legal and ethical standards is part of what sets apart a professional from an imposter. Some imposter dentistry can come from:

• Unlicensed amateurs, such as veneer techs
  
  
• Professionals who once were licensed but who no longer are. Examples include dental professionals who have moved states or countries and never became credentialed again but are still practicing, or those who had their licenses revoked by state boards and continue to illegally practice dentistry
  
  
• Licensed professionals who practice outside their scope in dentistry, such as a dental assistant prepping a tooth or a lab technician making dentures in their house for patients as a side gig

Dr. Kartik Antani.

Not all licensed dental professionals are ethical or capable, and not all imposters are awful. A talented dentist from a different country could do amazing dentistry in their garage, but it is highly illegal.

The importance here is regulation and oversight by a governing body, after being trained well. Further, what's legal in one state (such as hygiene collaborative practices and expanded function dental assistants) may not be legal in another. There can be a few shades of gray in some cases, but imposter dentistry is blatantly illegal and should be taken seriously.

The governing bodies that supervise dental professionals have steps they take to enforce their rules and regulations, but they can't do much if the person doing this work is not under their jurisdiction. That's when it becomes an issue for the police. The state board cannot reprimand a veneer tech, but local law enforcement can and do arrest these folks for practicing dentistry without a license.

But why are people doing this? Is it possible that random people taking veneer tech classes and obtaining a "certificate" don't even know that what they are doing is illegal?

Are they getting scammed too? What about the people who get these procedures done? Do they know that they’re being put at risk and are being treated illegally? I am sure that organized dentistry is working hard trying to curtail this issue, but it may never go away.

It's hard to see an end to this when so many folks are willing to go to an unlicensed facility (knowingly or unknowingly) to save a buck. Are they justified in doing so because they cannot afford the real deal?

What if organized dentistry were to use the same short-form social media such as Instagram Reels or TikTok to post about the pitfalls of imposter dentistry? That might reach the same demographic as the social media posts attracting people to imposter dentistry. What if there were a way for local law enforcement to be educated further about what's going on so perhaps they would search for dentist imposters more?

I honestly don't know the best way forward to curtail these problems, but I do know that it is harming people, and it can be detrimental to their health. Something needs to be done.

Dr. Kartik Antani graduated from the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and completed a one-year hospital-based general practice residency. He also holds a master's degree in biomedical sciences. He owns and operates Napa Family Dentistry. He is a winner of the New York Academy of Dentistry Ethics Award.

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