People ex rel. Illinois Society of Orthodontists v. United States Dental Institute, Inc.

373 N.E.2d 635, 57 Ill. App. 3d 1029, 15 Ill. Dec. 289, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2240
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 16, 1978
DocketNo. 76-299
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 373 N.E.2d 635 (People ex rel. Illinois Society of Orthodontists v. United States Dental Institute, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. Illinois Society of Orthodontists v. United States Dental Institute, Inc., 373 N.E.2d 635, 57 Ill. App. 3d 1029, 15 Ill. Dec. 289, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2240 (Ill. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE ROMITI

delivered the opinion of the court:

The sole question in this case is whether a school teaching courses in advanced dentistry to dentists is practicing dentistry contrary to statute (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 91, par. 42a), when the school through its instructors gives advice to the students on specific problems the students have, including diagnosis, pursuant to the contracts between the school and the students which provide that the students may bring in up to ten specific problems free of charge and any number thereafter at a charge of $50 a problem. We hold that the school is in violation of the statute.

The defendant, the United States Dental Institute (hereinafter Institute), teaches courses in orthodontics to licensed dentists. The Institute is approved by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; it is not, however, an accredited dental school approved by the Illinois Department of Registration and Education.

One of the instructors at the school is an orthodontist; the rest are general dentists. All except one, Dr. Eilene Enriquez, a citizen of the Philippines, are licensed to practice in Illinois. All of the students are licensed dentists. It must be noted that while only orthodontists can hold themselves out to the public as orthodontists, any licensed dentist can practice orthodontic medicine. All a degree in orthodontics does is entitle a dentist, after complying with section 4a of the Dental Practice Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 91, par. 59a), to list himself as an orthodontist.

There are a few dental schools in Illinois giving courses in orthodontics leading to a degree in orthodontics. All of these schools give courses on a full-time basis only and forbid their students to practice dentistry while they are taking the courses. Besides instruction, these schools engage in clinical training where the student works on live patients under the supervision of an instructor. The Institute’s program cannot, and does not, lead to a degree in orthodontics, and the Institute has never pretended that it does. What it does do is offer a part-time curriculum whereby the licensed dentist can gain additional knowledge in the field of orthodontics while continuing to practice dentistry. The advantages of this to the dentist are obvious.

While the evidence is meager and conflicting on the point, it appears that while the Institute does not require that its students work on live patients having orthodontic problems during the time they are taking the courses, the student dentists are encouraged to take patients since that is the best way to learn. They are, as we noted earlier, legally entitled to take such patients. The students determine whom they feel they are capable of treating, although the instructors, if they know of the case, will inform the student if they believe it to be beyond his capability. One of the important features of the school is its “back-up service.” The student dentists can bring in records, including plastic models of the patient’s dentition, X rays, intra and oral photographs and other documents, and the instructors will make a diagnosis and suggest a treatment plan which the students can choose to follow or reject; the student is encouraged to return during the course of the treatment with updated records which the instructor can use to continue to give advice. At no time does the instructor see these patients. Indeed, it is unlikely the patients ever know of the Institute’s existence. It is unclear from the evidence whether only two of the instructors handle these problems or whether all of them do. Likewise, it is unclear whether all problems submitted are handled or whether the student brings in several from which the instructor selects some routine cases. Moreover, the record is silent as to whether these problems are handled as part of the classroom procedure or separately. It is clear that the Institute in its contract with the student agrees to furnish during the course of the 5-year program ten “hypothetical teaching guides” free of charge (i.e., included in the $8,000 fee) and additional “hypothetical teaching guides” for *50 per case. There is no restriction on the number of times the student may bring the same case back.

No student dentists were called to testify; consequently there was absolutely no evidence that the student dentists were encouraged or led to take cases they would not otherwise have taken. There was also no evidence that the student dentists, because of the back-up service, felt they were ceding responsibility for any case to the Institute. There was no evidence as to the ability (as opposed to the right) of the student dentists to handle the cases other than that many of them had been practicing as dentists for years. There was no evidence as to what proportion of the student dentists actually used the “back-up service,” or how closely they followed the recommendation or how much they relied on the advice given rather than on their own skill and observations.

The plaintiff brought this action seeking to enjoin the performance of the back-up service on the theory in count I that it constituted the unlawful practice of dentistry and in count II that it constituted a nuisance. After hearing the evidence the trial court found:

“1. The defendant, as a school, serves a useful purpose. The Court should not interfere with its existence.
2. The Court does not possess the power to judge the qualifications of the faculty.
3. The Court does not possess the power to pass on the quality of the educational service rendered by the school.
4. The plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case that the defendant is engaged in the practice of dentistry, in violation of any of the provisions of the Dental Practice Act except as hereinafter set forth.
(a) The plaintiff has failed to establish a prima-facie case that the defendant represents itself as being able to treat or operate for any disease, pain, deformity, deficiency, injury, or physical condition of a human tooth, or teeth, alveolar process, gums or jaw.
(b) That the plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case that the defendant operates or conducts a place where dental operations are performed.
(c) That the plaintiff has failed to establish a prima facie case that the defendant performs dental operations of any kind, gratuitously or for a fee, gift, compensation or reward, pay, or to be paid, either to itself or to another person or agency.
5. The plaintiffs have established a prima facie case that the defendant, a non-professional service corporation owned and operated by non-dentists, does represent itself as being able to diagnose existing orthodontic deficiencies of a specific patient and prescribe the remedy. It is the interpretation of this Court that the said functions are not limited to the relation between the dentist and a patient, but extends also to provide such functions to registered dentists as well. Such functions are beyond the course of instruction offered by the school as a means of continuing education for the licensed professional, in violation of the Act.

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373 N.E.2d 635, 57 Ill. App. 3d 1029, 15 Ill. Dec. 289, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2240, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-illinois-society-of-orthodontists-v-united-states-dental-illappct-1978.