British Columbia · BC College of Oral Health Professionals

What happens during a BCCOHP investigation?

An investigation by the BC College of Oral Health Professionals is a legal process, and since 1 April 2026 it runs under new legislation. The structural change that should shape how you act is this: the college still investigates, but it no longer holds the hearing. If your matter escalates, it goes to an independent tribunal outside the college — so the investigation is where you have the most influence, and where it is most often resolved.

Who investigates you, and under what law

Investigations are conducted by BCCOHP under the Health Professions and Occupations Act, which came into force on 1 April 2026 and repealed the old Health Professions Act. The body that oversees the investigation and decides its outcome is the Investigation Committee — the renamed Inquiry Committee.

The college is explicit that its authority is limited to what the legislation gives it. That cuts both ways: the powers are real, but they are bounded, and a good lawyer will hold the college to them. BCCOHP reviews every concern it receives and, as a general rule, investigates every complaint through to completion — a complaint is not usually something a patient can simply withdraw once the process has started.

What triggers an investigation

The obvious route is a written complaint from a patient. But it is not the only one. Under the HPOA, any person may complain, licensees carry a positive duty to report their peers where the public is endangered or sexual misconduct is alleged, and BCCOHP can open a matter internally — for example on the back of quality assurance findings, with no complaint from anyone.

The HPOA also gives the college new pre-investigative powers to deal with frivolous, vexatious or trivial complaints promptly, which is a genuine improvement for licensees on the receiving end of a complaint that should never have progressed.

What the investigation involves

Expect the college to obtain the patient chart, radiographs, treatment plans, consent documentation and billing records, and to seek your written response to the specific concerns. It may obtain expert opinion on standard of care. In the published BC dental cases, the recurring themes are strikingly consistent: inadequate recordkeeping, informed consent, treatment planning, prescribing, and infection prevention and control.

This is why the contemporaneous record is decisive. What you wrote at the time carries weight nothing written afterwards can match — and amending a chart after a complaint converts a defensible clinical matter into an honesty matter, which is far harder to survive.

Your duty to cooperate — and what it costs to ignore it

Under the HPOA, prompt and substantive responses, participation in the investigation, and compliance with registrar orders are express statutory duties, and some continue to bind you even after resignation or non-renewal.

BCCOHP has cited dentists where failure to cooperate with the investigation was charged as an allegation in its own right — and, in at least one published matter, a long-standing recordkeeping problem combined with a failure to respond substantively to the regulator ended in the dentist resigning irrevocably and undertaking never to reapply. The underlying clinical issue was survivable. The failure to engage with it was not.

How the Investigation Committee can resolve it

Once the investigation report is in, the Investigation Committee assesses risk to the public and chooses an outcome: no further action; practice advice; a consensual agreement to take courses; directed education such as a case review or a mentorship with another oral health professional; or, for serious matters, a referral for a disciplinary hearing.

You can also take the initiative. A licensee under investigation may propose a resolution — admitting certain facts and proposing the orders that should follow — which the committee may accept or reject. Real BCCOHP orders resolved this way have combined directed courses, a mentored full-day case review, a fine, and partial investigation costs. But proposing a resolution is a strategic decision with lasting consequences and should never be made without a lawyer having reviewed the whole file.

If it goes to a hearing — and what can happen meanwhile

This is the biggest structural change. Serious matters are no longer heard by the college. They go to the independent Health Professions Discipline Tribunal, operated by the Superintendent’s Office, with panels made up of a vice chair, a professional member and a public member. The tribunal also hears appeals. Hearings that had already begun before 1 April 2026 continue before the old BCCOHP Discipline Committee.

Separately, and at any stage, the college can impose a summary protection order — interim limits, conditions or a suspension on your practice to protect the public before any hearing has taken place. These are published. If you receive one, get legal advice the same day.

What you can do while it runs

You cannot control the pace of the investigation. You can control what you bring to its conclusion. Because the Investigation Committee’s own menu of outcomes is built around education, mentorship and consensual agreement, a dentist who arrives already able to evidence reflection and completed remediation is a dentist the committee has an obvious route to resolve with.

Assembled while the file is open, that record can genuinely shape which outcome is chosen — including whether the matter stays confidential or becomes a published order. Produced after the fact, it reads as damage control.

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.