# What California duties fall on the dental practice owner? > Use this guide when a question tests what the dentist or owner must set up, maintain, display, report, or supervise at the office level. Last verified: 2026-06-09 Reviewed by: Mahtab Mansour, DDS on 2026-04-25 (re-verification in progress) ## Direct answer - Practice owners are accountable for the office systems that keep records, permits, staffing, notices, and compliance duties current. - Owner duties often overlap with retention, reporting, display, and supervision obligations instead of one isolated statute. - When an office closes or changes operations, the owner must shift from habit to the actual California retention and notice rules. ## Full guide ## High-yield California rules for this topic ### Owner accountability and Board inspection Only a licensed dentist or a properly formed dental corporation may own a dental practice (Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act, Corporations Code §13400 et seq.; Business and Professions Code §§1800–1808), and managing a place where dental operations are performed is itself the practice of dentistry under BPC §1625.[^A15] SB 351 (effective January 1, 2026) bars private equity groups and hedge funds from controlling clinical judgment — no dictating diagnostic tests or referrals, no patient quotas, no restricting treatment, no owning patient records — and voids non-compete and non-disparagement clauses in their provider contracts, enforceable by the Attorney General.[^A15] Owners must keep written infection-control and exposure-response protocols the team can actually follow.[^A14] [^B3] On a complaint, the Board may inspect the premises, books, and records under BPC §1611.5, and obstructing that inspection is a separate unprofessional-conduct violation regardless of the underlying complaint.[^A25] **Memorize it:** **"Own-Run-Inspect"** — own only via licensed dentist or dental corporation (SB 351 bans private equity clinical control); run with written protocols; let the Board inspect on complaint without obstruction. ### Mandated abuse reporting Three victim groups, three statutes: child abuse (Penal Code section 11166) — immediate phone report to a child protective agency, written report within 36 hours; elder or dependent-adult abuse (Welfare and Institutions Code section 15630) — immediate phone or internet report, written within two working days; assaultive or abusive injuries including domestic violence (Penal Code section 11160) — immediate phone report to local law enforcement, written within two working days.[^A22] [^A23] [^A54] The duty is individual and non-delegable — telling the office manager never satisfies it. Failure to report is a misdemeanor: up to six months in county jail and/or a $1,000 fine, rising to up to one year and/or $5,000 if the willful failure results in death or great bodily injury.[^A22] **Memorize it:** **"36-2-2"** — child-abuse written within 36 hours; elder-abuse written within 2 working days; assaultive-injury written within 2 working days. ### Sexual harassment training Under Government Code section 12950.1, any employer with five or more employees must provide harassment-prevention training — two hours for supervisors, one hour for nonsupervisory staff — within six months of hire or promotion, repeated every two years; seasonal or temporary employees hired for less than six months train within 30 days of hire or 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.[^A44] Allegations must be investigated promptly, thoroughly, and impartially. Labor Code section 1102.5 bars retaliation, and adverse action (termination, demotion, reduced hours) within 90 days of a harassment report is presumed retaliatory unless the employer proves otherwise.[^A44] **Memorize it:** **"5-2-1-2"** — 5 employees triggers training; 2 hours for supervisors; 1 hour for staff; every 2 years. ### Emergency preparedness in the office The exact equipment numbers attach to sedation/anesthesia-permitted facilities under 16 CCR §1044.5: oxygen delivering greater than 90 percent at 10 liters per minute for at least 60 minutes, suction with a backup independent of main electrical power, age-appropriate resuscitation equipment, and an eight-category drug list (epinephrine, bronchodilator, drug antagonists such as flumazenil and naloxone, antihistaminic, anticholinergic, anticonvulsant, oxygen, dextrose or another antihypoglycemic).[^A71] [^A19] A general office with no sedation or anesthesia permit faces a standard-of-care expectation — BLS-trained staff, oxygen, emergency drugs — not these numeric minimums.[^A19] At least one current-BLS team member must be physically present during any patient care, every direct-care staffer needs active BLS, and under SB 1453 a General Anesthesia permit requires current ACLS with the dentist ordering or administering general anesthesia or moderate sedation physically present during the sedation.[^A20] Separate Cal/OSHA employee supplies — first aid, eyewash stations per 8 CCR section 5162, and Material Safety Data Sheet access per 8 CCR section 3400 — are kept apart from the patient drug kit.[^B3] **Memorize it:** **"O-S-A-8"** — for sedation/anesthesia-permitted facilities (16 CCR §1044.5): Oxygen (>90% × 10 L/min × 60 min), Suction with electrical-independent backup, Age-appropriate resuscitation gear, the 8-category emergency drug list. ### Closure planning is a patient-protection duty Closing a practice without patient-protection steps risks abandonment: the owner must give written notice of the closure timeline to all active patients, arrange emergency coverage during the transition, and give clear instructions for accessing or transferring records within the Health and Safety Code section 123110 patient-access timelines.[^A15] [^B4] A 30-day notice is the prudent default, but the testable point is continuity of care — reasonable follow-up arrangements and referrals — not the day count.[^B4] Records must still be retained to the Health and Safety Code section 123145 minimum after closure. Four duties: notice, coverage, records access, referral. **Memorize it:** **"Notice-Coverage-Records-Referral"** — the four owner duties that turn a closure into a non-abandonment. [^A5]: `A5` 16 CCR Division 10 — Dental Board of California regulations index (includes §1068 posted-duties-table requirement). [^A6]: `A6` Dental Board of California, Table of Permitted Dental Auxiliary Duties, effective 1/1/2025. [^A11]: `A11` California Business & Professions Code §2290.5 — telehealth consent and parity. [^A14]: `A14` Dental Board of California minimum standards for infection control, 16 CCR §1005. [^A15]: `A15` California Business & Professions Code §§1611.5, 1625, 1680, 1684.1, 1684.5, 1763, 1800–1808 (dental corporations); Corporations Code §13400 et seq. (Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act); SB 351 private-equity restrictions. [^A16]: `A16` California Business & Professions Code §1611.3 — notice to consumers. [^A17]: `A17` California Business & Professions Code §1741 — direct and general supervision definitions. [^A18]: `A18` California Business & Professions Code §1750.1 — dental assistant duties. [^A19]: `A19` Dental Board of California — current anesthesia and sedation permit framework. [^A20]: `A20` Dental Board of California, SB 1453 alert for anesthesia and sedation changes effective 1/1/2025. [^A21]: `A21` California Business & Professions Code §651 — advertising rules and prohibitions. [^A22]: `A22` California Penal Code §11166 — child-abuse reporting under CANRA (immediate phone, written within 36 hours). [^A23]: `A23` California Welfare & Institutions Code §15630 — elder/dependent-adult abuse reporting (immediate, written within 2 working days). [^A25]: `A25` California Business & Professions Code §1611.5 — Board inspection power on complaint. [^A30]: `A30` California Business & Professions Code §1683.1 — telehealth provider identification disclosures. [^A31]: `A31` California Business & Professions Code §1683.2 — complaint-waiver prohibition (no gag clauses). [^A37]: `A37` California Business & Professions Code §1700 — current license, permit, and registration display; misdemeanor for failure (reinforced by SB 1453). [^A38]: `A38` California Business & Professions Code §1750 — DA definition, BSDP, and SB 1453 8-hour infection-control prerequisite. [^A41]: `A41` California Business & Professions Code §1701.5 — fictitious name permit. [^A44]: `A44` California Government Code §12950.1 — harassment-prevention training (5+ employees, 2h/1h, every 2 years); Labor Code §1102.5 retaliation protection. [^A45]: `A45` CDPH Medical Waste Management Program (MWMA). [^A46]: `A46` DTSC universal-waste guidance, including dental amalgam. [^A54]: `A54` California Penal Code §11160 — reporting of assaultive or abusive injuries (immediate, written within 2 working days). [^A58]: `A58` California Business & Professions Code §680 — nametag disclosure requirement, 18-point type. [^A70]: `A70` 16 CCR §1070.6 — Board-approved 8-hour infection-control course content for dental assistants (at least 4 hours didactic, 2 hours laboratory/preclinical, 2 hours clinical). [^A71]: `A71` 16 CCR §1044.5 — minimum equipment, oxygen, suction, and emergency-drug standards for sedation/anesthesia-permitted facilities. [^A72]: `A72` Proposition 65 dental-care warnings — HSC §§25249.6, 25249.11(b); 27 CCR §§25607.8–25607.9 safe-harbor sign or consent-form method (OEHHA regulations compilation). [^B3]: `B3` Cal/OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard, 8 CCR §5193 (Exposure Control Plan, sharps-injury log, annual training, post-exposure protocol). [^B4]: `B4` Dental Board of California, office-closure practical guidance newsletter. ## Related guides - [What are California dental records and confidentiality rules?](https://dentovio.com/guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/records-confidentiality/index.html.md) - [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) - [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)