British Columbia · BC College of Oral Health Professionals

How to respond to a BCCOHP complaint

The rules changed under you. On 1 April 2026 the Health Professions Act was repealed and replaced by the Health Professions and Occupations Act — so if you are reading older guidance, it is describing a system that no longer exists. The BC College of Oral Health Professionals still receives and investigates your complaint, but the committee has a new name, you are now a licensee, and disciplinary hearings have moved out of the college altogether.

What changed on 1 April 2026

This is the first thing to get straight, because almost every article you will find online is now out of date. The Health Professions Act — the law that governed BC dentistry for thirty years — was repealed on 1 April 2026 and replaced by the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA).

Three changes matter immediately. You are now a licensee, not a registrant. The BCCOHP committee that handles your complaint is the Investigation Committee, not the old Inquiry Committee. And disciplinary hearings no longer happen at the college — they are heard by an independent Health Professions Discipline Tribunal, run by the new Superintendent’s Office. The college investigates; someone else adjudicates.

Who can complain, and how you will hear about it

Any person may complain to BCCOHP — it does not have to be your patient. The HPOA also places a positive duty on licensees to report their peers where there is a risk to the public or an allegation of sexual misconduct, so complaints can come from colleagues and staff. A matter can also be triggered internally, without any complaint at all, for instance from findings in the college’s quality assurance work.

The process is not anonymous to you. BCCOHP will provide you with the relevant information from the submission and ask you for a written response. A complainant can apply for an identity protection order in defined circumstances, but as a rule you will know the substance of what is alleged and be given the chance to answer it.

The duty to cooperate is now statutory — and it bites

Under the old Act, the obligation to engage with your regulator lived in bylaws and standards. The HPOA codifies it directly into legislation: prompt responses, participation in investigations and quality assurance, and compliance with registrar orders are now express statutory duties. Some of them survive even if you resign or let your licence lapse.

This is not theoretical. BCCOHP has issued citations against dentists in which failing to cooperate with the investigation was itself one of the charged allegations, sitting alongside the underlying clinical concern. A poor recordkeeping case is survivable; a poor recordkeeping case plus a refusal to engage is a much worse one. Cooperate — through your lawyer.

What your written response has to do

Your response goes to the Investigation Committee and it is the single document most likely to determine whether this matter ends quietly or escalates. It should answer the specific concerns raised, be anchored in the clinical record as it was written at the time, and be measured in tone.

What the committee is assessing is risk to the public. A response that is defensive, dismissive, or blames the patient tells them the risk is unaddressed. A response that shows you have understood the concern — genuine insight — and have already acted on it tells them the opposite. Remember also that patients own the information in their chart and have a legal right to a complete copy of their dental record; the record you rely on is one they can already see.

How the Investigation Committee can dispose of your case

Most complaints do not end in a hearing. Having received the investigation report, the Investigation Committee assesses the risk to the public and can take no further action; give practice advice; agree a consensual resolution under which you take courses; or direct education such as a case review or a mentorship with another oral health professional. The HPOA also gives the college new powers to dispose of frivolous, vexatious or trivial complaints early, before a full investigation.

Only serious matters are referred onward for a disciplinary hearing. And there is a real incentive to resolve: outcomes of consensual, collaborative resolutions of lesser matters remain confidential between the parties, whereas a disciplinary order does not.

What becomes public, and when

Publication under the HPOA is narrower than people fear but broader than they hope. What gets published is a disciplinary order made with your consent, or one made following a finding of misconduct by the tribunal. Summary protection orders — interim limits, conditions or a suspension imposed before any hearing to protect the public — are also published.

Where a matter is resolved consensually as a lesser concern, the outcome generally stays between you and the college. Published notices are listed on the BCCOHP website for ten years and remain on the public record permanently. The gap between a confidential consensual resolution and a published disciplinary order is, in practice, the thing your response is fighting over.

What to do this week

Contact your professional liability insurer and instruct a regulatory lawyer before you write anything. Diarise the deadline in the letter. Preserve the chart exactly as it is — retrospective additions are detectable and convert a clinical case into an honesty case. Say nothing to the complainant.

Then do the work that actually moves the committee’s risk assessment: an honest account of what happened, and targeted learning in the area of concern, started now rather than after an order is proposed. It guarantees nothing — but the committee’s own menu of outcomes is built around directed education, and a licensee who has already begun is a licensee they can resolve with.

This guide is general information for dentists in British Columbia and is not legal advice. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BC College of Oral Health Professionals. It describes the position under the Health Professions and Occupations Act, which replaced the Health Professions Act on 1 April 2026; transitional arrangements apply to matters already under way. Regulatory processes change and every case turns on its own facts — contact your professional liability insurer and a regulatory lawyer about your own matter, and confirm current requirements with BCCOHP. No course or programme can guarantee the outcome of a regulatory process. Last updated July 14, 2026.