§448-1 Dentistry defined; exempted practices. A person practices dentistry, within the meaning of this chapter, who represents oneself as being able to diagnose, treat, operate or prescribe for any disease, pain, injury, deficiency, deformity, or physical condition of the human teeth, alveolar process, gums, or jaw, or who offers or undertakes by any means or methods to diagnose, treat, operate or prescribe for any disease, pain, injury, deficiency, deformity, or physical condition of the same, or to take impressions of the teeth or jaws; or who owns, maintains, or operates an office for the practice of dentistry; or who engages in any of the practices included in the curricula of recognized and approved dental schools or colleges. Dentistry includes that part of health care concerned with the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases of the teeth, oral cavity, and associated structures including the restoration of defective or missing teeth. The fact that a person uses any dental degree, or designation, or any card, device, directory, poster, sign, or other media whereby one represents oneself to be a dentist, shall be prima facie evidence that the person is engaged in the practice of dentistry.

The following practices, acts, and operations, however, are exempt from the operation of this chapter:

(1) The rendering of dental relief in emergency cases in the practice of one's profession by a physician or surgeon, licensed as such and registered under the laws of this State, unless one undertakes to reproduce or reproduces lost parts of the human teeth in the mouth or to restore or replace in the human mouth lost or missing teeth;

(2) The practice of dentistry in the discharge of their official duties by dentists in the United States Army, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, the United States Public Health Service, or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs;

(3) The practice of dentistry by licensed dentists of other states or countries at meetings of the Hawaii Dental Association or component parts thereof, alumni meetings of dental colleges, or any other like dental organizations, while appearing as clinicians;

(4) The use of roentgen and other rays for making radiograms or similar records of dental or oral tissues;

(5) The making of artificial restorations, substitutes, appliances, or materials for the correction of disease, loss, deformity, malposition, dislocation, fracture, injury to the jaws, teeth, lips, gums, cheeks, palate, or associated tissues, or parts, upon orders, prescription, casts, models, or from impressions furnished by a Hawaii licensed dentist; and

(6) The ownership and management of a dental practice by the executor or administrator of a dentist's estate or the legal guardian or authorized representative of a dentist, where the licensed dentist has died or is incapacitated, for the purpose of winding down, transferring, or selling the practice, for a period not to exceed one year from the time of death or from the date the dentist is declared incapacitated; provided that all other aspects of the practice of dentistry are performed by one or more licensed dentists. [L 1903, c 40, §1; am L 1917, c 136, §1; RL 1925, §1065; RL 1935, §980; am L 1937, c 220, §1; RL 1945, §2151; am L 1955, c 170, §1; RL 1955, §61-1; HRS §448-1; am L 1983, c 220, §1; am L 2007, c 176, §1; am L 2017, c 12, §1]

Case Notes

City and county cannot pass an ordinance affecting the status of territorial licenses. 29 H. 422 (1926).