Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 54.1 > Subtitle III > Chapter 27 - Dentistry

• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Appliance: means a permanent or removable device used in a plan of dental care, including crowns, fillings, bridges, braces, dentures, orthodontic aligners, and sleep apnea devices. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Board: means the Board of Dentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dental hygiene: means duties related to patient assessment and the rendering of educational, preventive, and therapeutic dental services specified in regulations of the Board and not otherwise restricted to the practice of dentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Dental hygienist: means a person who is licensed by the Board to practice dental hygiene. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Dentist: means a person who has been awarded a degree in and is licensed by the Board to practice dentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Dentistry: means the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, through surgical, nonsurgical, or related procedures, of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral cavity and the maxillofacial, adjacent, and associated structures and their impact on the human body. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Department: means the Department of Education. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Digital scan: means digital technology that creates a computer-generated replica of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity using enhanced digital photography. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Digital scan technician: means a person who has completed a training program approved by the Board to take digital scans of intraoral and extraoral hard and soft tissues for use in teledentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Digital work order: means the digital equivalent of a written dental laboratory work order used in the construction or repair of an appliance. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Elementary: includes kindergarten. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• License: means the document issued to an applicant upon completion of requirements for admission to practice dentistry or dental hygiene in the Commonwealth or upon registration for renewal of license to continue the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• License to practice dentistry: means any license to practice dentistry issued by the Board. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• local governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, responsible for appropriating funds for such locality, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Maxillofacial: means pertaining to the jaws and face, particularly with reference to specialized surgery of this region. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Middle school: means separate schools for early adolescents and the middle school grades that might be housed at elementary or high schools. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Oral and maxillofacial surgeon: means a person who has successfully completed an oral and maxillofacial residency program, approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association, and who holds a valid license from the Board. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• parents: means any parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having control or charge of a child. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Store-and-forward technologies: means the technologies that allow for the electronic transmission of dental and health information, including images, photographs, documents, and health histories, through a secure communication system. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Teledentistry: means the delivery of dentistry between a patient and a dentist who holds a license to practice dentistry issued by the Board through the use of telehealth systems and electronic technologies or media, including interactive, two-way audio or video. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255