Ohio is sometimes described as permissive, but the statutory text does not support that characterization. Verify the practical enforcement posture separately with counsel. See the legislation tracker for pending changes.
1. CPOD status
Tier: Moderate-to-strict by statute text ORC 4715.01 (effective March 15, 1982) does the work in one definitional net. Any person practicing dentistry includes a “manager, proprietor, operator, or conductor of a place for performing dental operations,” and that phrase in turn includes any person:- (A) who employs licensed operators;
- (B) who places dental offices or equipment in licensed operators’ possession under a lease or other agreement where the compensation is “manifestly in excess of the reasonable rental value”;
- (C) who makes any other arrangement whereby the person “derives profit, compensation, or advantage through retaining the ownership or control of dental offices” or necessary dental equipment (bona fide chattel-mortgage equipment sales excepted).
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
Permitted forms: ORC § 4715.18 expressly allows dentistry to be offered under (1) a for-profit corporation under ch. 1701, (2) a professional association under ch. 1785, (3) an LLC under ch. 1705 or 1706, or (4) specified FQHC, free-clinic, shelter, facility, and indigent-care nonprofit forms. The availability of an ordinary corporation or LLC does not erase § 4715.01’s separate rule that a person who employs dentists or profits through retained ownership or control is practicing dentistry; analyze ownership and form separately. Ownership: Restricted in practice by § 4715.01’s net: a lay owner of the practice entity would be employing dentists and profiting through ownership, both inside the definition. 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 standalone percentage-management-fee ban was identified in the authorities cited here. Section 4715.01 instead reaches compensation “manifestly in excess of the reasonable rental value” for office or equipment arrangements and profit or advantage derived through retained ownership or control. Test the fee together with the assets, services, employer, decision rights, and actual conduct; a flat or cost-plus label and fair-market-value evidence do not resolve a separate ownership or control problem. 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 Ohio’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
No DSO-specific registration or disclosure regime was identified in ORC ch. 4715 or the current Board materials cited for this page. That research result does not eliminate ordinary entity, payer, facility, transaction, tax, or other filings. For role-specific dental filings in other states, see Register a DSO.7. Death and transition window
No statutory estate or transition window was located in ch. 4715. Verify the point with counsel. Succession depends on professional-entity mechanics and advance planning. See Plan for succession.8. Practical structuring notes
Build the facts around § 4715.01’s verbs. Determine who employs or engages each dentist, owns or controls the office and necessary equipment, sets the lease and service consideration, receives the resulting profit or advantage, and makes operational decisions. Preserve contemporaneous valuation and service evidence, but do not treat it as a substitute for the ownership-and-control analysis. The statute expressly includes a lease with compensation “manifestly in excess of the reasonable rental value” in the proprietor definition.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.