NC Dental Review Change Counters Tougher National Trend

Healthcare attorneys Jacob Bolton, Eric Scalzo, John Saran and John Arnold published an article in Law360 about a change to North Carolina law eliminating a review step for dental industry transactions. S.L. 2026-41, Section 38A.2, enacted July 7, 2026, removes the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners' longstanding requirement that parties submit dental management arrangements to the board for review and a compliance determination before execution. The authors note this deregulatory move counters national movements toward stricter corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) and corporate practice of dentistry laws and high-dollar settlements, although the state's Dental Practice Act remains one of the country's most restrictive and the board retains full investigative and enforcement authority under it. The attorneys speculate that staffing and resource requirements and diminishing compliance benefits coupled with rising administrative costs led lawmakers in Raleigh to take out the advance review obligation, though they caution that dental support organizations (DSOs) should not view this development as a relaxation of other compliance requirements. Though cutting some of the front-end bureaucratic red tape could spur more investment in North Carolina's dental services market through shortening deal timelines and reducing due diligence costs, parties still have to fulfill other obligations under the law, and regulators may now shift resources toward audits or enforcement. Overall, the article provides a helpful summary of the changes and their implications for DSOs, mergers and acquisitions, regulators and policymakers, and other players in the state's dental industry.

READ: NC Dental Review Change Counters Tougher National Trend

The attorneys also published a Holland & Knight alert shortly after S.L. 2026-41 was enacted.