# California Dentistry Law & Ethics Guide Hub > Dentovio publishes a public guide hub for California dentist licensure candidates who want source-backed law and ethics pages that AI tools and search engines can cite directly. The public guide hub covers exam basics, current California rules, and freshness-sensitive update notes. The paid Dentovio product adds the structured study workflow, full question banks, scenario drills, and timed exam. ## Exam basics - [Start Here](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam#start-here): Use this guide if you want a California-specific map of what to study first for the Dental Law & Ethics exam. Dentovio organizes the canonical content under the official Dental Boa… - [Exam Blueprint](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam#exam-blueprint): Translate the Candidate Information Bulletin into a practical study outline. This guide is the map for the rest of the study materials. The exam outline is grounded in the June 202… - [Source Priority](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam#source-priority): Define which sources control when this guide summarizes California dental law and ethics. Exam Areas Covered all exam areas; this file is global policy for the guide High-Yield Rul… ## Evergreen California guides - [What are California dental records and confidentiality rules?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/records-confidentiality/index.html.md): Use this guide when you need the California timelines and confidentiality rules that show up repeatedly on the Dental Law & Ethics exam. - [What does California dental records law require for patient access?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/patient-access-and-board-requests/index.html.md): Use this guide when you want the deadline grid for patient requests, radiographs, summaries, and Board-authorized demands. - [What California duties fall on the dental practice owner?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/practice-owner-duties/index.html.md): Use this guide when a question tests what the dentist or owner must set up, maintain, display, report, or supervise at the office level. - [What advertising and public-notice rules apply to California dentists?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/advertising-public-notices/index.html.md): Use this guide for California rules on truthful advertising, required office notices, and the difference between marketing language and regulated public disclosures. - [What can California dental auxiliaries do and under what supervision?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/auxiliaries-delegation-supervision/index.html.md): Use this guide when you need the current California duties table, supervision definitions, and delegation boundaries for auxiliaries. - [How do California consent rules work for minors and patients with impaired capacity?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/consent-minors-impaired-patients/index.html.md): Use this guide when you need the California consent framework for minors, surrogate decision-makers, and informed-consent duty. - [What telehealth and patient-of-record rules apply in California dentistry?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/scope-patient-of-record-telehealth/index.html.md): Use this guide when a stem tests telehealth, patient-of-record duties, provider disclosures, documentation, or complaint-waiver traps. - [What California prescribing and CURES rules matter for dental exam prep?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/prescribing-cures-opioids/index.html.md): Use this guide when you need California prescribing rules, CURES timing, opioid counseling, and emergency-style exception language. - [What infection-control and OSHA rules apply to California dental offices?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/infection-control-osha/index.html.md): Use this guide when you need the California infection-control framework, the OSHA overlay, and the office-systems duties that support them. - [What changed in California dental sedation and anesthesia rules?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/sedation-anesthesia/index.html.md): Use this guide when sedation, anesthesia, permits, consent language, or adverse-event readiness appears in a California exam question. - [What continuing-education, renewal, and permit rules do California dentists need?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/ce-renewal-permits/index.html.md): Use this guide when you need the California renewal numbers, mandatory courses, permit-maintenance expectations, or first-renewal exceptions. ## Glossary and Q&A - [California dental law and ethics glossary](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/index.html.md): Narrow California question-and-answer pages that link back to the full evergreen guides. - [How fast must a California dentist respond to a records request?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/how-long-to-respond-to-record-request/index.html.md): Use the California 5-working-day inspection rule and 15-day copies rule instead of generic HIPAA timing shortcuts. - [Can a California dentist withhold records because the patient has an unpaid bill?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/can-dentist-withhold-records-for-unpaid-bill/index.html.md): No. Unpaid balances do not justify withholding records, summaries, or authorized radiograph transfers. - [What is the current California breach-notice deadline for dental records incidents?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/what-is-california-breach-notice-deadline/index.html.md): For covered California resident breaches, the current California answer is a 30-calendar-day deadline after discovery. - [Can the Dental Board of California demand records without ordinary patient-request timing?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/can-dental-board-demand-records/index.html.md): Yes. California Board requests have their own response timing, and those deadlines differ from ordinary patient-access requests. - [Can original radiographs be sent directly to another dentist in California?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/can-original-radiographs-go-to-another-dentist/index.html.md): Yes. With a valid written request, original radiographs can be sent directly to another provider named by the patient. - [How long must a California dental office keep patient records when the office closes?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/how-long-must-office-keep-patient-records/index.html.md): Adults generally require at least 7 years after discharge. Unemancipated-minor records must be kept at least 1 year after age 18 and never less than 7 years. - [What notices and public disclosures must a California dental office post or display?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/what-notices-must-california-dental-office-post/index.html.md): Questions about signs and public notices usually turn on required consumer notices, provider identification, and license or fictitious-name display rules. - [When does California require direct supervision for dental auxiliary duties?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/when-is-direct-supervision-required/index.html.md): The answer depends on the current California duties table. Direct supervision is a specific legal lane, not a loose synonym for 'the dentist is somewhere nearby.' - [What changed in California dental auxiliary duties and supervision in 2025?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/what-changed-in-auxiliary-duties-2025/index.html.md): The current Dental Board duties table changed on January 1, 2025, so older auxiliary charts can now point to the wrong answer. - [Who can consent for a minor's dental treatment in California?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/who-can-consent-for-minor-dental-care/index.html.md): Do not assume every accompanying adult can consent. California separates ordinary parental authority, self-consent lanes, emancipation, and caregiver-affidavit authority. - [Who can consent for dental treatment when an adult patient lacks capacity in California?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/who-can-consent-for-impaired-adult-dental-care/index.html.md): Look for the lawful surrogate path, not family convenience. California cares who has legal authority, and the emergency exception is narrow. - [Does California dental telehealth require patient consent before the visit?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/does-telehealth-require-patient-consent/index.html.md): Yes. California telehealth consent must be obtained before services and documented in the patient record. - [Can a California telehealth dental platform require patients to waive complaints to the Dental Board?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/can-telehealth-waive-board-complaints/index.html.md): No. California bars telehealth complaint-waiver language that makes patients sign away their ability to complain to the Dental Board. - [When does a California dentist have to check CURES before prescribing?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/when-must-dentist-check-cures/index.html.md): California requires a CURES check before the first Schedule II-IV prescribing event unless a current exemption applies, with an ongoing-therapy recheck at least every 6 months. - [What is the current California CURES exemption language dentists should study?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/what-is-current-cures-exemption-language/index.html.md): Use the current 7-day nonrefillable exemption framing instead of stale 5-day shorthand. - [Which rules govern infection control in a California dental office?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/which-rules-govern-dental-infection-control/index.html.md): California infection-control questions usually test both the Dental Board minimum standards and the Cal/OSHA bloodborne-pathogens overlay. - [What changed in California dental sedation and anesthesia permits in 2025?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/what-changed-in-sedation-permits-2025/index.html.md): The 2025 changes updated permit names, staffing expectations, and operational framing, so older sedation shorthand is unreliable. - [How many continuing-education units does a California dentist need for renewal?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/how-many-ce-units-needed-for-renewal/index.html.md): The ordinary California renewal framework is 50 CE units, but the analysis does not stop at the raw number. - [Is a California dentist's first renewal exempt from continuing education?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/glossary/is-first-renewal-exempt-from-ce/index.html.md): Yes. The first renewal is exempt from CE, which is one of the easiest California renewal exceptions to miss. ## Freshness and methodology - [How Dentovio verifies California law and ethics updates](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/methodology/index.html.md): Methodology page describing how Dentovio prioritizes California primary sources, freshness checks, and public-vs-paid content boundaries. - [Dentovio public source registry](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/source-registry/index.html.md): Trimmed registry of the current primary, professional, and federal sources Dentovio uses for its public authority pages and dental operations resources. ## Updates - [California breach notice changed to a 30-day deadline in 2026](https://dentovio.com/what-changed/california-breach-notice-deadline-2026/index.html.md): Study the current California 30-calendar-day breach-notice deadline instead of the older "without unreasonable delay" shortcut. - [California dental sedation rules changed in 2025](https://dentovio.com/what-changed/sedation-anesthesia-changes-2025/index.html.md): Use the current permit names, staffing expectations, and adverse-event framing instead of pre-2025 sedation shorthand. - [CURES exemptions use current 7-day language, not stale 5-day wording](https://dentovio.com/what-changed/cures-seven-day-exemption-language/index.html.md): Use the current DCA flyer language that describes a 7-day nonrefillable exemption lane instead of outdated 5-day shorthand. - [The old flat MICRA cap is stale for 2026 prep](https://dentovio.com/what-changed/micra-cap-schedule-for-2026-prep/index.html.md): For 2026 prep, stop answering from the old flat $250,000 MICRA cap and switch to the AB 35 schedule framing.