False Advertising
SBOD regulations prohibit advertising that is false , misleading or deceptive . Advertising is considered to be false advertising if it does one or more of the following :
• Contains a misrepresentation of fact , or omits a fact that is necessary to avoid making the advertisement as a whole misleading
• Likely to create an unjustified expectation or unrealistic expectations about the results that the dentist can achieve
• Compares a dentist ’ s services with the services of other dentists , unless the comparison can be substantiated in fact
Advertising as a Specialist
An advertisement may not claim or imply that a dentist is a specialist in any area unless that particular specialty is recognized by the SBOD as a dental specialty , and the dentist has successfully completed a CODA approved specialty training program . The SBOD has adopted the ADA ’ s standards for recognizing dental specialties .
A dentist who is a specialist in one area , and advertises services in another recognized specialty area or non-specialty area , must disclose that their specialty status does not extend to the other specialty . For example , a pediatric dentist who announces additional services in orthodontics cannot advertise themselves as an orthodontist .
Holding out as a specialist includes the use of terms “ specialist ” and “ limited to specialty of ” or the use of such words as “ endodontist ” or “ pediatric dentist ” which denote a practitioner of a particular dental specialty . The dental practice of a specialist may not imply that any general dentists associated with the practice are also specialists . Neither general dentists or specialists can imply that a non-speciality area of dentistry has specialty status .
Pennsylvania State Board of Dentistry regulations regarding advertising in their entirety can be found in Pa Code § 33.203 : https :// www . pacodeandbulletin . gov / Display / pacode ? file =/ secure / pacode / data / 049 / chapter33 / s33.203 . html & d = reduce .
2024