A. No person shall practice, offer to practice, or hold himself out as practicing dentistry, under a name other than his own. This section shall not prohibit the practice of dentistry by a partnership under a firm name, or a licensed dentist from practicing dentistry as the employee of a licensed dentist, practicing under his own name or under a firm name, or as the employee of a professional corporation, or as a member, manager, employee, or agent of a professional limited liability company or as the employee of a dental clinic operated as specified in subsection A of § 54.1-2715.

B. A dentist, partnership, professional corporation, or professional limited liability company that owns a dental practice may adopt a trade name for that practice so long as the trade name meets the following requirements:

1. The trade name incorporates one or more of the following: (i) a geographic location, e.g., to include, but not be limited to, a street name, shopping center, neighborhood, city, or county location; (ii) type of practice; or (iii) a derivative of the dentist's name.

2. Derivatives of American Dental Association approved specialty board certifications may be used to describe the type of practice if one or more dentists in the practice are certified in the specialty or if the specialty name is accompanied by the conspicuous disclosure that services are provided by a general dentist in every advertising medium in which the trade name is used.

3. The trade name is used in conjunction with either (i) the name of the dentist or (ii) the name of the partnership, professional corporation, or professional limited liability company that owns the practice. The owner's name shall be conspicuously displayed along with the trade name used for the practice in all advertisements in any medium.

4. Marquee signage, web page addresses, and email addresses are not considered to be advertisements and may be limited to the trade name adopted for the practice.

Code 1950, § 54-184; 1970, c. 639; 1975, c. 479; 1988, c. 765; 1992, c. 574; 2004, c. 48; 2005, cc. 505, 587.