In 2018, the Kentucky State legislature passed telehealth laws, which mandated that the Kentucky Board of Dentistry (Board) create telehealth regulations specific to the practice of dentistry. In January 2019, the Board formed a teledentistry committee of stakeholders and began drafting regulations that would define standards for the practice of teledentistry. The AAO’s Trey Lawrence and Gianna Hartwig participated on the committee on behalf of the AAO. The committee met several times over the past year to consider stakeholder feedback on how to draft regulations that would be in the best interest of patient health and safety.

In January 2020, the Board voted to accept the draft rules and begin the official rulemaking process by posting the rules for public comment. After reviewing the comments received, the committee presented the draft rules to the Board at its May 16th virtual Board meeting. The Board voted to pass the teledentistry rules. The rules are effective June 9, 2020.

The AAO believes that the new teledentistry rules are in the best interest of patient health and safety, including provisions for a licensee to disclose his or her identity, credentials, contact information, and phone number;  to verify and authenticate a patient’s health history; and to provide to the patient contact information for the Kentucky Board of Dentistry and a link to the patient complaint process. You can see the final rules under Chapter 8, Board of Dentistry here.

Please note, every orthodontist (as a citizen of and licensed dental provider in his or her state) and orthodontic patient has the right, independently and individually, to express his or her opinion on any dental issue to his or her state dental board, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and elected officials (e.g. Attorney General, Governor, state representative, etc.). If you feel so compelled, you can look up and contact the appropriate entity.

Contact information for state and provincial dental regulatory authorities can be found at https://www2.aaoinfo.org/legal-advocacy/state-dental-board-information/.