Starting a New Dental Practice Checklist

Starting a New Dental Practice?

If you’re opening a new dental practice, there are many things to consider, including
licenses, local requirements, supplies, insurance, infection control and OSHA, just to name
a few. Use the checklist below as a starting point to address these issues. For additional
information, contact your state dental society.

New Practice Checklist

(Requirements can vary from state to state and from city to city)
To Do What Contact
Licenses (May □ State Dental License Department of professional
vary from state regulation or state board of
to state) dentistry
□ Anesthesia and Department of professional
regulation or state board of
Analgesia Permit (If
dentistry
needed)
□ Controlled Substance Drug Enforcement Administration
License

Professional □ Join Local, State and State Dental Societies

Association National Dental

Association

Regulations □ X-ray Registration Check your state government web

site
□ Waste Management Best Management Practice for
Amalgam Waste
(Check state and local
laws)
□ HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act / HIPAA
□ National Provider National Plan and Provider
Enumeration System (NPPES)
Identification (NPI)

Local
Requirements
□ City or Village Contact your county & municipal
governments for regulations
Occupancy Permit
related to opening a dental
 practice. Your state dental society
may also provide information.
□ Zoning Board Dental Society Roadmaps

□ Building Permit Contact your county & municipal

governments for regulations
related to opening a dental
practice. Your state dental society
may also provide information.

□ Infection Control Center for Disease Control and

Infection Requirements Prevention
Control &
OSHA Practical Guide to Effective
Infection Control
□ Job Safety & Health OSHA
Protection
ADA/OSHA
□ OSHA Compliance ADA Catalog – ADA Regulatory
Compliance Manual

Taxes □ State department of List of State Departments of

Revenue
revenue
□ Federal IRS

□ IRS tax ID number IRS

Insurance □ Disability income & ADA Group Insurance

Plans/Great-West
office overhead expenses
□ Life – term & ADA Group Insurance
Plans/Great-West
universal

□ MedCASH ADA Group Insurance

Plans/Great-West
(Supplemental to major
medicala) National Association of Insurance
Commisioners
 □ Professional liability ADA

□ Health insurance ADA - Personal Insurance

Other □ Workman’s Workers Compensation

Insurances Compensation
□ Employee Fidelity Employee Fidelity Bonds
Bond

Employees □ Verify licenses, as Verify as Needed

needed
□ Vaccines and Center for Disease Control and
Prevention
immunizations
□ Employee policies The ADA Practical Guide to
Creating an Employee Office
Manual:
□ Hire staff Terminating Employment in a
Dental Office
□ Employment Instructions for Employment
Eligibility Verification
Eligibility (I-9 forms)
□ Federal & state labor Labor Law Posters
law posters
Americans with Disabilities Act
□ American with
Disabilities Act

□ Define practice Valuing a Practice: A Guide for

Business Issues structure Dentists Practice Options for the
New Dentist: A How-To Guide
□ Practice financing ADA Business Resources
 Supplies &
Equipment
□ Dental Buying Guide Dental Manufacturers by Name,
Location and Product

Dental Lab □ Select a dental lab National Association of Dental

Laboratories

Below is a list of ADA practice management and regulatory publications and guidebooks
frequently requested by dentists opening new practices. Visitwww.adacatalog.org or call
1.800.947.4746.

 The ADA Practical Guide to HIPAA Compliance

 CEO Crash Course: Take the Lead in Your Dental Practice
 Associateships: A Guide for Owners and Prospective Associates
 The ADA Practical Guide to Internal Marketing: The Key to Dental Practice
 The ADA Practical Guide to Creating an Employee Office Manual

You may also like:

 Practice Life Stage: Launch

 Guidelines for Developing Business Plan
 The ADA Practical Guide to Starting Your Dental Practice

Disclaimer. The foregoing was prepared by the ADA’s Division of Legal Affairs. Its purpose is to promote
awareness of legal issues that may affect dentists and dental practices. The law varies from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction, and it can change rapidly. This document is not intended to provide either legal or
professional advice, and cannot address every federal, state, and local law that could affect a dentist or
dental practice. We make no representations or warranties of any kind about the completeness, accuracy,
or any other quality of the information in the above piece. Nothing here represents advice or opinion as to
any particular situation you may be facing; for that, it is necessary to consult directly with a properly
qualified professional or with an attorney admitted to practice in your jurisdiction for appropriate legal or
professional advice.

To the extent the above includes links to any Web sites, the ADA intends no endorsement of their content
and implies no affiliation with the organizations that provide their content. Nor does the ADA make any
representations or warranties about the information provided on those sites, which we do not control in
any way.