The Board materially amended 16.5.9 NMAC effective April 21, 2026, adding telehealth to the owner definition and expanding application and change-reporting disclosures. The Dental Health Care Act also sunsets and renews periodically. Read the current compiled rule and the 2026 filed amendment before relying on an older checklist.
1. CPOD status
Tier: Permissive (licensed)- § 61-5A-5(H): unless licensed as a dentist or non-dentist owner, or otherwise exempt, no individual or corporate entity may (1) employ or contract with a dentist or dental hygienist to provide dental or dental hygiene services, or (2) enter into a managed care or other agreement to provide such services in New Mexico.
- § 61-5A-5.1(A): a person, corporation, or agency “that desires to function as a non-dentist owner in New Mexico shall apply to the board for the proper license” and adhere to board-rule requirements, re-licensure criteria, and fees.
- § 61-5A-3 defines “non-dentist owner” as an individual not licensed as a New Mexico dentist, or a corporate entity not owned by a majority interest of a New Mexico-licensed dentist, that employs or contracts with a dentist or hygienist to provide services.
- 16.5.9.7(C) NMAC now expressly includes telehealth services in the non-dentist-owner definition.
- 16.5.9.8(K) NMAC reserves direct control over clinical judgment and treatment, including referrals and laboratory prescriptions, to a New Mexico-licensed dentist.
- Penalties (§ 61-5A-18): practicing dentistry without complying with the Act is a fourth-degree felony (up to 18 months, fine up to 1,000). Courts may enjoin violations, and § 61-5A-24 lets the attorney general, a district attorney, the board, or any citizen sue.
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. A New Mexico-licensed dental hygienist, or an entity majority-owned by one, may function as a non-dentist owner without the separate license (§ 61-5A-5(I)(5)).3. Professional entity forms
Permitted forms: professional corporations under the Professional Corporation Act (NMSA 1978, § 53-6-1 et seq.). Because the non-dentist owner license permits lay ownership, the operating entity may also be an ordinary business entity that holds the owner license. Ownership: Dentists, or any person or entity holding (or exempt from) the non-dentist owner license. 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-splitting and management-fee structure
No express percentage-fee prohibition was located in the Dental Health Care Act. A licensed non-dentist owner may own the practice outright, so a separate management fee may be unnecessary. If a group retains a friendly-PC structure for multi-state consistency, verify the fee terms with 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. Dentist noncompetes
No dental-specific noncompete statute was identified in the sources this page relies on; enforceability runs on New Mexico’s general restrictive-covenant law. Verify 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
Yes, through the non-dentist owner license. Under 16.5.9.8(D)–(F), a licensee must report ownership, entity-structure, officer, director, designated-agent, licensed-employee, and disciplinary changes within 30 days. The licensee must publicly display owners’ names and contact information and the practice names of Board licensees, including in advertising; maintain records for at least six years; and preserve dentist-only clinical control (16.5.9.8(I)–(L)). The April 2026 application rule requires substantial ownership and background information. Under 16.5.9.10 NMAC, an applicant must provide ownership percentages, entity and parent-company details, articles and bylaws, the registered agent and authorized contact, the facility manager, felony and professional-discipline history, business references, specified civil actions from the prior 10 years, bankruptcy within seven years, and a professional background report. Changes to facility ownership or management, location, closure, and owner or manager mailing address carry a separate 60-day notice deadline. The license is nontransferable, must be posted at each location, and renews every three years on July 1 (16.5.9.11). A corporate applicant must be registered in New Mexico, and its owner or designated agent must pass the jurisprudence examination (16.5.9.12). Exempt categories that may function as non-dentist owners without the license appear in 16.5.9.7(B): government agencies; spouses of deceased licensed dentists or hygienists for one year following death; accredited dental, hygiene, and assisting schools acting only in educational settings; New Mexico-licensed hygienists or hygienist-majority entities; FQHCs; qualifying publicly funded nonprofit community organizations; and Department of Health-licensed hospitals. See Register a DSO for the compliance-calendar workflow.7. Death and transition window
The surviving spouse of a deceased dentist or dental hygienist may function as a non-dentist owner for one year after death without a license (16.5.9.7(B)(3) NMAC). The exemption names the spouse, not the estate or every heir. See Plan for succession.8. Practical structuring notes
Obtain the owner license before employing dentists. Starting operations before the license issues may implicate the misdemeanor provision in § 61-5A-18(C), so treat licensure as a closing dependency alongside payer enrollment. Before signing, collect the required information about the buyer, parent, owners, directors, facility manager, litigation, discipline, and bankruptcy history. After closing, calendar the 30-day deadline for owner, entity, and personnel changes and the 60-day deadline for facility changes. The April 2026 amendment also reaches a telehealth-only model. New Mexico illustrates a different regulatory model: it licenses non-dentist owners rather than prohibiting them.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 and where to verify
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.