Michigan’s rules come from the Public Health Code, the Business Corporation Act’s professional-corporation chapter, and Board of Dentistry rules. Check the legislation tracker for pending changes.
1. CPOD status
Tier: Moderate The practice definition is clinical only. MCL 333.16601(1)(d) (as amended by 2018 PA 463, effective March 27, 2019): the practice of dentistry means “the diagnosis, treatment, prescription, or operation for a disease, pain, deformity, deficiency, injury, or physical condition of the human tooth, teeth, alveolar process, gums or jaws, or their dependent tissues,” or holding oneself out as able to do so. It does not include owning or operating a dental office or employing dentists, and part 166 of the Public Health Code contains no ownership provision. The verified licensed-owner restrictions are entity-specific:- MCL 450.1283(2): each PC shareholder must be a licensed person (or an entity beneficially owned only by licensed persons);
- MCL 450.1284(1): for services under article 15 of the Public Health Code, which includes dentistry, each shareholder must be licensed in the same professional service. The multi-profession exceptions in § 1284(2)–(3) cover chiropractic, medicine, osteopathy, and podiatry, but not dentistry;
- MCL 450.4904(1)–(2): PLLC members and managers must all be licensed in the same professional service.
2. Other professions
This page covers dentistry only. Medicine, optometry, veterinary practice, and other professions are governed by different statutes and boards, even within the same state. For medical-practice sources, use the MSO-PC Wiki.3. Professional entity forms
Verified professional forms: a professional corporation under Chapter 2A of the Business Corporation Act, MCL 450.1281–450.1289, or PLLC under Chapter 9 of the Michigan LLC Act, MCL 450.4901–450.4910. A PC may not engage in any business other than its stated professional service (MCL 450.1287(1)). Because part 166 itself does not bar ownership, do not assume these are the only theoretically available forms; ordinary partnership and nonprofit structures require a separate statute-by-statute and Board analysis. Two Michigan-specific points need attention. First, Chapter 2A superseded the former Professional Service Corporation Act through 2012 PA 569, effective January 2, 2013. The old MCL 450.221 et seq. citation is obsolete for new entities. Second, because shareholders must be licensed “in the same professional service,” a hygienist licensed for dental hygiene rather than dentistry cannot hold shares in a dentistry PC under the text reviewed. Verify that conclusion with counsel. Also confirm before filing:- Naming rules, designator requirements, and any limits tied to licensed owners’ names; several states regulate dental trade names separately
- Board pre-approval or certificates, whether the dental board must act before (or after) the secretary of state will file
- Officer and director licensure, including states that restrict these roles as well as ownership to licensees
4. Fee structure
No Michigan statute located for this page bans percentage-of-collections management fees, and no Board of Dentistry rule regulating management agreements was found in the Board’s General Rules (Mich. Admin. Code R. 338.11101 et seq.). The reviewed dental statutes do not specifically regulate a conventional management services agreement (MSA) around a dentist-owned PC or PLLC. Generally applicable fee-splitting and control principles therefore remain important. Verify the structure with Michigan counsel. For the MSA, test whether a percentage-of-collections fee is permitted under the state’s dental, fee-splitting, referral, tax, and contract rules. Several states expressly restrict revenue-linked dental management fees, and the Aspen Dental settlements imposed related party-specific terms. Flat and cost-plus formulas are not automatic safe harbors; the services, calculation, amount, control rights, and actual payments still matter. See Fee-splitting rules and Set the management fee.5. Noncompetes
No dental-specific noncompete statute was identified in this research; Michigan noncompetes are governed by general state law. Verify current Michigan law with counsel before including one. Federal noncompete policy changed substantially in 2025 and 2026. The FTC’s Non-Compete Rule was vacated, the agency dismissed its appeals in September 2025, and the rule was removed from 16 C.F.R. pt. 910 effective February 12, 2026. State law remains central. Dental enforcement resolutions in New York and California have also restricted noncompetes for the settling parties as a corporate-practice remedy. Verify the current rule, worker, agreement type, transaction context, effective date, and remedy in this state. See the legislation tracker.6. DSO-specific law and registration
None. No registration, disclosure, or dental-management-agreement statute exists in Michigan; part 166 of the Public Health Code was checked directly. Michigan Dental Association guidance identifies partnership and nonprofit-corporation exceptions to the conventional licensed-owner model. That guidance is secondary, but it reinforces why the PC and PLLC ownership statutes should not be presented as a universal dental-practice ownership prohibition. One miscitation to avoid: MCL 450.681 applies to the practice of law, not dentistry.7. Death and transition window
No fixed statutory holding period for a deceased dentist’s estate was found. MCL 450.1286(1) requires a disqualified person, and by the structure of Chapter 2A successors to a deceased shareholder’s interest, to sever all employment and direct or indirect financial interests “within a reasonable period.” A 90-day cure period applies to requalification (§ 1286(2)). Noncompliance is grounds for forfeiture of the articles and Attorney General-initiated dissolution (§ 1286(3)). Verify the practical estate timeline with counsel.8. Practical structuring notes
An all-licensed PC or PLLC is a conventional friendly-PC structure in Michigan. Keep the DSO out of the shareholder or membership register and draft the MSA’s clinical carve-out against the felony provision. The selected entity still requires its own analysis; the reviewed authorities do not support a blanket statement that every Michigan dental practice must be dentist-owned. The “reasonable period” death-transition standard is also undefined, so a succession plan should not assume a fixed grace period.9. Verification checklist
- Confirmed the permitted entity form for dentistry in this state
- Confirmed whether dental board pre-approval or a certificate is required before filing
- Confirmed whether officers and directors must be licensed dentists
- Confirmed the management fee structure is lawful here, including any restriction on revenue-linked fees
- Clinical carve-out drafted against this state’s current statutory language, including any enumerated control prohibitions
- Transfer restriction and succession documents checked against this state’s death-transition window
- Noncompete provisions checked against current state law
- DSO foreign-qualified before it has employees here
- Any DSO registration, licensure, or disclosure obligation identified and calendared
- Trade-name and advertising-disclosure rules for dental practices checked
10. Sources
For the cases and statutes referenced above, see DSO & dental case law and the 51-jurisdiction table. For enacted and pending legislation, see the dental legislation tracker.