GDA Action October 2021

8 • October 2021 Q&A If you have any questions about the information in this column, please email [email protected] or call the GDA office at 404.636.7553. FROM THE GC’S DESK SCOTT LOFRANCO GDA General Counsel Each month we publish responses to some of the more frequently asked questions by GDA members. We hope you and your staff find this column to be a useful resource. Q: Regarding the 10-year-rule for keeping patient records, is a Georgia-licensed dentist required to keep laboratory models used by a dental lab to fabricate fixed or removeable prosthesis? No. Generally speaking, Georgia Board of Dentistry (“BOD”) Rule 150-8- .01(h)(4) states: “Records. Maintenance of records to furnish documentary evidence of the course of the patient’s medical/dental evaluation, treatment, and response. A dentist shall be required to maintain a patient’s complete dental record, which may include, but is not limited to, the following: treatment notes, evaluations, diagnoses, prognoses, X-rays, photographs, diagnostic models, laboratory reports, laboratory prescriptions (slips), drug prescriptions, insurance claim forms, billing records, and other technical information used in assessing a patient’s condition. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a dentist shall be required to maintain a patient’s complete treatment record for no less than a period of ten (10) years from the date of the patient’s last office visit.” However, at its June 4, 2021 meeting, the BOD opined that a Georgia- licensed dentist is not required to retain “lab models used by a dental lab to fabricate fixed or removeable prosthesis” for the applicable 10- year period.