[ Act No. 593, January 10, 1903 ]
AN ACT REGULATING THE PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
Section 1. The Commissioner of Public Health for the Philippine Islands shall appoint a Board of Dental Examiners for the Philippine Islands, with the advice and consent of the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, consisting of three reputable practitioners of dental surgery, who shall be graduates in good standing of legally incorporated dental educational institutions recognized by the National Association of Dental Faculties and the National Association of Dental Examiners of the United States of America. They shall hold office for three years after their appointment, and until their successors are appointed and qualified: Provided, that the first appointees shall be appointed for a period of one, two, and three years, respectively, as specified in their respective certificates of appointment from the Commissioner of Public Health: And provided further, That no member of the faculty of any school, college, or university in which dentistry is taught shall be eligible for appointment on said Board. Each person following oath of office:
"I ______________________________, having been appointed a member of the Board of Dental Examiners for the Philippine Islands, do hereby solemnly swear that I am a graduate in good standing of the ____________________ at ________________________ in the city of ____________________, that I will well and truly perform all the duties of said office, that I will faithfully account for all moneys coming into my hands as such officer, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Government of the United States, and that I take this oath without any mental reservation whatsoever. So help me God."
The oath shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Secretary of the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands.
The Commissioner of Public Health shall fill any vacancy that may occur in the Board within one month after the vacancy occurs. The person so appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office only for the unexpired term of the member whose place he is appointed to fill.
The Commissioner of Public Health may, with the advice and consent of the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, remove any member of said Board for continued neglect of duty or incompetency, or for unprofessional or dishonorable conduct.
Section 2. The Board of Dental Examiners shall appertain to the Department of the Interior, so far as executive action may be required in connection with it. It shall organize immediately after the appointment of its members, and annually thereafter on the anniversary of its first organization, by electing from its members a president, who shall be its chief executive officer, and a secretary-treasurer. It shall procure and keep a seal with which to attest its official acts. The members of the Board, except the secretary-treasurer, shall receive as compensation the sum of two and a half dollars each for each candidate examined for registration as doctor of dental surgery, and two dollars for each person examined for registration as cirujano ministrante. The secretary-treasurer shall receive compensation at the rate of one hundred and fifty dollars per year, one-half of which amount shall be paid on the thirtieth of June and one-half on the thirty-first of December of each year. the amounts due the members of the Board of Examiners for compensation shall be paid from insular funds and disbursed by the disbursing officer of the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands. The secretary-treasurer shall execute a bond for five hundred dollars, with good and sufficient sureties, which shall be approved by the Treasurer of the Philippine Archipelago, conditioned that he will pay to the Treasurer of the Philippine Archipelago all moneys received by him as treasurer, and that he will faithfully discharge all the duties to his office. He shall keep a record of the proceedings of of the Board, and a register of all persons to whom certificates of registration as dental surgeons or undergraduates in dentistry have been granted under the provisions of this Act, setting forth the name, age, sex, and place of business of each, his post-office address, the name of the dental educational institution from which he graduated or in which he has studied, and the date of such graduation or term of study, together with the time spent by him in the study of dentistry, and the names and locations of all other institutions which have granted to him degrees or certificates of clinics or lectures in dentistry, medicine or surgery.
Section 3. The Board of Dental Examiners shall meet in the city of Manila for the purpose of examining candidates desiring to practice dentistry in the Philippine Islands on the first Tuesdays of January and July of each year, after giving thirty days written or printed notice of such meeting to each candidate who has filed his name and address with the secretary-treasurer of the Board, and after publishing such notice in one newspaper published in the English language and one newspaper published in the Spanish language at Manila at least once per week for a like period. The Board of Dental Examiners shall issue a dental surgeon's certificate to each candidate who furnishes satisfactory proof of having received a diploma as either doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery from a legally incorporated dental educational institution, and who in addition passes a satisfactory examination before the Board in the following subjects: Anatomy, physiology, histology, physics, chemistry, metallurgy, dental anatomy and physiology, dental materia medica, therapeutics, dental pathology and bacteriology, orthodontia, oral surgery, operative dentistry, and prosthetic dentistry. For each such certificate the secretary-treasurer of the Board shall collect a fee of ten dollars.
The Board is further empowered to make such rules and regulations not in conflict with the provisions of this Act as may be necessary to carry said provisions into effect.
Section 4. The Board shall, on or before the thirtieth day of June of each year, make a report to the Secretary of the Interior of its proceedings during the past year, and of all moneys received and disbursed by it during that period.
Section 5.1aшphi1 Sixty days after the first meeting of the Board of Dental Examiners for the Philippine Islands and subsequent to the passage of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any person to practice dentistry in any of its branches in the Philippine Islands, without a certificate of registration from the Board of Dental Examiners or without having filed with the secretary-treasurer of said Board an affidavit for the purpose of securing a registration certificate, setting forth the time and place in which he has practiced dentistry in the Philippine Islands prior to the passage of this law: Provided, That dentist who have passed successful examinations before a board established by the Provost-Marshal-General, city of Manila, pursuant to authority from the military Governor of the Philippine Islands, dated August second, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, shall be furnished with a certificate of registration by the Board of Dental Examiners on payment of the required fee for registration without further examination: Provided also, That nothing in this Act shall apply to dental surgeons of the United States Army on duty in the Philippine Islands, nor in any way apply to or affect any person who was resident int he Philippine Islands and lawfully engaged in the practice of dentistry there prior to the passage of this Act: And provided further, That persons who have studied medicine in the Santo Tomas University at manila for a period of not less than two years and who have received the title of "Cirujanos Minstrantes" and who have studied dentistry for the last four months of their course in such university, may be registered as undergraduates in dentistry upon passing a satisfactory examination before the Board, and, when so registered, shall be authorized to practice dentistry in remote towns where no regularly qualified dentist is available. The names of the towns in which each such undergraduate in dentistry is authorized to practice shall be included in his certificate of registration. The secretary-treasurer shall collect a fee of five dollars for each certificate of registration as undergraduate in dentistry issued by the Board.
Section 6. Every person engaged in the practice of dentistry in the Philippine Islands at the time of the passage of this Act shall within sixty days from the date of its passage register with the secretary-treasurer of the Board and pay the usual fee of registration, and the secretary-treasurer shall issue the usual certificate of registration to each person so registered. Any person failing to comply with this provision within the stated period shall be required to appear before the Board and pass a satisfactory examination before it shall be lawful for him to again engage in the practice of dentistry in the Philippine Islands.
Section 7. Any person shall be regarded as practicing dentistry within the meaning of this Act who shall for a fee, salary, or other reward, paid to himself or to another person, perform any operation or part of an operation upon the human teeth or jaws, or who shall restore lost teeth, jaws, or portions of jaws artificially, or who shall treat diseases or lesions or correct mal-positions thereof; but this provision shall not apply to artisans engaged in the mechanical construction of artificial dentures or other oral devices, or to students of dentistry practicing in any legally chartered dental school or college on patients under the direct supervision of an instructor in such dental school or college: And provided further, That this provision shall not be construed to interfere with physicians or surgeons in their legitimate practice as defined by Act Numbered Three hundred and ten.
Section 8. Any two members of the Board may issue a temporary certificate of registration to an applicant upon the presentation by such applicant of satisfactory evidence that he possess the necessary qualifications to practice dentistry, such certificate to remain in force only until the next regular meeting of the Board, at which time the person to whom it has been issued shall report for examination. Temporary licenses shall be granted only when the Board is not in session and will not meet within thirty days. in no case shall a temporary certificate of registration be renewed or extended, nor shall a second temporary certificate be granted to any person. The fee for a temporary certificate of registration shall be five dollars, and the application shall further deposit with the secretary-treasurer of the Board the sum of five dollars to complete the payment of his fee for a regular certificate. He shall also file with the secretary-treasurer of the Board an affidavit to the effect that it is his intention to appear at the next regular meeting of the Board and to submit to an examination with a view to obtaining a permanent certificate. Should he appear and pass a satisfactory examination, a permanent certificate shall be granted to him without additional charge. Should he fail to appear and pass such examination, the money deposited by him shall not be returned to him, but shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Philippine Archipelago.
Section 9. The Board of Dental Examiners shall refuse to issue either of the certificates provided for by this Act to any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense, or to any person guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct or of unsound mind, and in the event of such refusal shall give to the applicant a written statement setting forth the reason to its action, which statement shall be incorporated in the record of the Board. The Board may revoke a certificate for like cause, or for unprofessional conduct after due notice to the person interested and on hearing, subject to an appeal to the Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, the decision of which shall be final.
Section 10. Every practitioner of dentistry shall display in a conspicuous place upon the house or office where he practices his full name, and he shall further display his certificate of registration in his office in plain sight of patients occupying his dental chair. Any person violating this provision shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense. Any owner, proprietor or manager of a dental office or establishment who shall fail to cause to be displayed as provided in this section the registration certificate of each person practicing dentistry in such office or establishment shall, upon conviction, be punished by a like fine.
Section 11. No person shall in any way advertise as bachelor of dental surgery, doctor of dental surgery, of dental surgery, licentiate of dental surgery, doctor of dental medicine, or dental surgeon, or append the letter B. D. S., D. D. S., M. D. S., L. D. S., or D. M. D. to this name, who has not had duly conferred upon him by diploma from some school, college, university, or board of examiners legally qualified to confer the same, the right to assume said title, nor shall any person assume any title or prefix or append any letters to his name to represent falsely that he has received a dental degree or certificate of registration. Any person violating this provision shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for not more than ninety days.
Section 12. Where the word "dollars" is used in this Act, it shall be understood to mean dollars in money of the United States.
Section 13. This act shall take effect on its passage.
Enacted, January 10, 1903.
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