Can I lose my dental license for DUI?

Answer:
If you’re a dentist charged with a DUI, it’s reasonable to worry about your license. The Georgia Board of Dentistry has authority to revoke a license for legal violations, but for a DUI arrest alone, that’s very unlikely. For a first DUI conviction, the chances of losing your license are very low — possible, but far from guaranteed or even likely. A second DUI conviction, however, puts your license at serious risk. If you’re in the Northeast Georgia area and facing this situation, give us a call.

The Board’s Legal Authority to Discipline

Under O.C.G.A. § 43-11-47, the Georgia Board of Dentistry has broad authority to refuse, revoke, or discipline a dental license when a licensee fails to meet the standards set out in the statute. That authority is real, but it isn’t automatically triggered by every arrest — the statute lays out specific grounds the Board has to rely on.

What the Statute Actually Targets

One of the Board’s grounds for discipline under § 43-11-47(a)(4) is being arrested, charged, and sentenced for a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude. A routine first-offense misdemeanor DUI generally doesn’t fall into that category under Georgia law, which is exactly why a single DUI charge, on its own, rarely puts a dental license in serious jeopardy.

Why First Offender Status Doesn’t Fully Shield You Here

This is one area where First Offender treatment works differently than it might elsewhere. The statute specifically states that a plea of nolo contendere, or First Offender treatment without an adjudication of guilt, counts as conclusive evidence of arrest and sentencing for purposes of Board discipline. In other words, resolving a DUI through First Offender status doesn’t make the charge invisible to the Board the way it might for certain other legal purposes.

Why a Second DUI Changes the Calculus

A second DUI reads very differently to a licensing board than a single incident does. Beyond the specific felony and moral turpitude language in the statute, the Board also has independent rules defining unprofessional conduct, and a repeat pattern involving alcohol or substance use is exactly the kind of thing that can trigger closer scrutiny under those broader standards, separate from whether any individual charge technically qualifies as moral turpitude.

The Duty to Self-Report

Georgia law also makes failing to notify the Board of a conviction its own separate ground for discipline. That means how and when a DUI gets reported to the Board isn’t a minor administrative detail — mishandling that step can create a licensing problem independent of the underlying DUI charge itself.

What to Do Next

If you’re in the Northeast Georgia area and facing this situation, give us a call.

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Brett and his team were beyond supportive, helpful, gracious, caring and knowledgeable! We went through the most challenging and difficult time in our life and he was there every step of the way. With results we could never have imagined but definitely prayed for.

Not to mention his level of professionalism. From the first time we spoke to the first time we saw him in court. He stood out from almost every other attorney there. We were so appreciative that our attorney looked and was so professional, pulled together and prepared. When so many others were none of these things.

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5 Star Rating

I tried to write this several times and it brought me to tears. First may I say this has been the hardest three years of my life. Five lawyers I interviewed and none even understood the law as it applied to my case. So I thought I would try one more and it was Brett. From our first conversation together I knew he understood the law and was the perfect one for the case. I want to say how he prepared the case and presented it, achieving a full dismissal and ruling the police violated my first amendment rights. Complete genius!!!!

If you're reading this review and unsure, stop...call Brett. He always returned my call or texts within a couple hours, never more than 24 hours. He was always courteous and knowledgeable, trust me he talked me off the ledge a couple times. I would have given him 10 stars but 5 was the only option. Thank you Brett for all you did for me!!!!!