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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>80904</law_id><section_number>54.1-2700</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>32.1-276.3</reference><reference>54.1-2900</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="54.1">Professions and Occupations</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="III">Professions and Occupations Regulated by Boards Within the Department of Health Professions</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="27">Dentistry</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="1">Board of Dentistry</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Appliance</span>&#x201D; means a permanent or removable device used in a plan of dental care, including crowns, fillings, bridges, braces, dentures, orthodontic aligners, and sleep apnea devices.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Board</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> of Dentistry.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Dental hygiene</span>&#x201D; means duties related to patient assessment and the rendering of educational, preventive, and therapeutic dental services specified in regulations of the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> and not otherwise restricted to the practice of dentistry.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Dental hygienist</span>&#x201D; means a person who is licensed by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> to practice <span class="dictionary">dental hygiene</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Dentist</span>&#x201D; means a person who has been awarded a degree in and is licensed by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> to practice dentistry.
		&#x201C;Dentistry&#x201D; means the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, through surgical, nonsurgical, or related procedures, of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral cavity and the maxillofacial, adjacent, and associated structures and their impact on the human body.
		&#x201C;Digital scan&#x201D; means digital technology that creates a computer-generated replica of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity using enhanced digital photography.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Digital scan technician</span>&#x201D; means a person who has completed a training program approved by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> to take <span class="dictionary">digital scans</span> of intraoral and extraoral hard and soft tissues for use in <span class="dictionary">teledentistry</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Digital work order</span>&#x201D; means the digital equivalent of a written dental laboratory work order used in the construction or repair of an <span class="dictionary">appliance</span>.
		&#x201C;License&#x201D; means the document issued to an applicant upon completion of requirements for admission to practice dentistry or <span class="dictionary">dental hygiene</span> in the Commonwealth or upon registration for renewal of license to continue the practice of dentistry or <span class="dictionary">dental hygiene</span> in the Commonwealth.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">License to practice dentistry</span>&#x201D; means any <span class="dictionary">license to practice dentistry</span> issued by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>.
		&#x201C;Maxillofacial&#x201D; means pertaining to the jaws and face, particularly with reference to specialized surgery of this region.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Oral and maxillofacial surgeon</span>&#x201D; means a person who has successfully completed an oral and maxillofacial residency program, approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association, and who holds a valid license from the <span class="dictionary">Board</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Store-and-forward technologies</span>&#x201D; means the technologies that allow for the electronic transmission of dental and health information, including images, photographs, documents, and health histories, through a secure communication system.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Teledentistry</span>&#x201D; means the delivery of dentistry between a patient and a <span class="dictionary">dentist</span> who holds a <span class="dictionary">license to practice dentistry</span> issued by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> through the use of telehealth systems and electronic technologies or media, including interactive, two-way audio or video.</p></section></text><history>1950, p. 983, &#xA7; 54-200.1; 1970, c. 639; 1972, c. 805; 1988, c. 765; 2001, c. 662; 2013, c. 240; 2020, cc. 37, 220.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
