How the Michigan Board of Dentistry (LARA) handles complaints against dentists
In Michigan, a dental complaint runs through LARA rather than a standalone board — and most close at the investigation stage. Here is who oversees the process, who can complain, how an allegation is screened, and what the first contact means for your license.
Key takeaways
- Dental discipline in Michigan is run by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Professional Licensing; the Board of Dentistry works within it.
- Anyone can submit an allegation form — patients, dental plans, employers, or other agencies.
- Board members screen each allegation to decide whether an investigation is warranted; LARA then investigates, and roughly 75% of matters close at that stage.
- Sanctions, if any, are imposed by a Disciplinary Subcommittee of the Board — not by the full Board.
- The governing law is the Michigan Public Health Code (MCL 333.16101 et seq.), with grounds for discipline in MCL 333.16221.
Who oversees dental discipline in Michigan?
Michigan dentists are regulated under the Public Health Code by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), through its Bureau of Professional Licensing. The Michigan Board of Dentistry works inside that structure: it and its subcommittees review cases, but the investigative and administrative machinery belongs to LARA. Grounds for discipline are set out in MCL 333.16221, and the dentistry-specific provisions sit in Part 166 of the Code.
Who can file — and what triggers a case
Anyone can start the process by submitting an allegation form — a patient, a dental plan, an employer, or another agency. Many cases also begin without a traditional complainant at all: a National Practitioner Data Bank report, a failure to renew a license or complete continuing education, a criminal conviction, or disciplinary action in another state can each trigger a Michigan matter. Michigan licensees must self-report a criminal conviction or another state’s disciplinary action within 30 days.
How an allegation is screened
An allegation is not automatically an investigation. Members of the relevant professional board review the allegation to decide whether an investigation is warranted; if it is, LARA conducts the investigation. The screen is meaningful: roughly 75% of matters are closed at the investigation stage without formal action, so many allegations never become complaints.
The role of the Disciplinary Subcommittee
Michigan has a feature that surprises dentists from other states: the full Board of Dentistry does not impose discipline. That authority belongs to a Disciplinary Subcommittee — appointed by the Board chair and made up of three professional members of the Board (the chair excluded) and two public members. The Subcommittee decides both whether a violation occurred and what sanction to impose, and its determination is final. Its decisions are reported to the Board, but the Board takes no direct role in the sanction.
Is the complaint confidential?
During the investigatory phase, the identity of the person who filed the allegation is confidential — although, as practitioners note, it often becomes obvious once records are requested and questions are asked. The picture changes at the end: since 2015, LARA is required to publish every final decision imposing disciplinary action on its public licensing website.
What the first letter means
A notice of investigation from LARA is the beginning of what can be a long process, not a formality to brush off. The practical guidance from Michigan dental counsel is consistent: agree to meet with the investigator, but have an attorney involved who notifies the investigator and attends with you. Preserve your records exactly as they stand, and do not try to handle a Public Health Code investigation alone.
For the sequence and timing that follow, see how long a Michigan Board of Dentistry investigation takes. For outcomes, see Michigan dentist discipline, from consent order to license suspension.
Related courses
If you have received a notice of investigation, these courses help you build the documented insight and record-keeping the Board looks for:
These are structured ethics and professional-development courses that issue a certificate of completion — they are not accredited continuing education (CE), and completion does not resolve a Board matter. Their value is as documented evidence of insight, reflection, and remediation, which the Board’s disciplinary subcommittee weighs in mitigation when deciding an outcome.