> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dso.getlemma.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Nevada CPOD and DSO reference > Nevada's criminal lay-ownership ban, the 2009 DSO support-services safe harbor, NRS 631.388 manager registration, and the statutory ban on percentage-of-revenue fees. Nevada is a **strict** corporate practice of dentistry (CPOD) state with an express dental-support framework: NRS 631.395(10) makes specified lay ownership, fee sharing, and control criminal illegal practice, while the 2009 support provisions permit defined nonclinical services subject to conditions that include no percentage-of-revenue payment, no clinical control, and manager registration (NRS 631.215(2)(i), 631.3455–.3457, 631.388). Nevada's framework was enacted in 2009 and amended through 2023, when NRS 631.215(2) was relettered. Older citations to the support-services paragraph as (h) now point to (i). Check the [legislation tracker](/reference/legal/dental-legislation-tracker) for pending changes. ## 1. CPOD status **Tier:** Strict, with an explicit statutory safe harbor * **NRS 631.395(10):** a person is guilty of the illegal practice of dentistry who "owns or controls a dental practice, shares in the fees received by a dentist or controls or attempts to control the services offered by a dentist" without a Nevada dental license (except as provided in NRS 631.385, the family-transition statute). * **NRS 631.3465(3)** mirrors the rule on the dentist's side: it is unprofessional conduct for a dentist to associate with or be employed by an unlicensed person who exercises control over the dentist's services, owns any part of the practice, or shares the dentist's fees. * The definition of practicing dentistry (NRS 631.215(1)) includes determining "whether a particular treatment is necessary or advisable" and "which particular treatment is necessary or advisable" (paragraph (l)). DSO control of treatment planning can therefore constitute unlicensed practice. * Entity exceptions: certain NRS ch. 82 nonprofits serving rural, underserved, migrant, and homeless populations, FQHCs, and 501(c)(3) volunteer charity clinics may own a dental office (NRS 631.215(2)(g)) if they designate an actively licensed dentist as **dental director** responsible for all clinical aspects (NRS 631.3452; compliance is deemed lawful under NRS 631.3454). ## 2. Other professions This page covers **dentistry only**. Medicine, optometry, veterinary practice, and other professions are governed by different statutes and boards, even within the same state. For medical-practice sources, use the [MSO-PC Wiki](https://mso.getlemma.com/). One dental-adjacent carve-out: a public health dental hygiene program owned or operated by a hygienist holding a public-health special endorsement is exempt from the dental-director requirement (NRS 631.3453, endorsement under NRS 631.287). ## 3. Professional entity forms **Permitted forms:** professional entities organized under NRS ch. 89. The dental act refers to "a professional entity organized by a dentist pursuant to the provisions of chapter 89 of NRS" (NRS 631.3454(2)). Consult ch. 89 for the ownership mechanics. **Ownership:** Dentist-only, on pain of criminal liability under NRS 631.395(10), subject to the nonprofit and family exceptions above. Also confirm before filing: * **Naming rules**, designator requirements, and any limits tied to licensed owners' names; several states regulate dental trade names separately * **Board pre-approval or certificates**, whether the dental board must act *before* (or after) the secretary of state will file * **Officer and director licensure**, including states that restrict these roles as well as ownership to licensees See [PC vs PLLC vs PA](/concepts/entities/pc-vs-pllc-vs-pa) and [Form a professional corporation](/guides/formation/form-a-pc). ## 4. Fee-splitting and management-fee structure **Percentage-of-revenue management fees are banned by statute.** NRS 631.215(2)(i) permits a person to provide "goods or services for the support of the business of a dental practice, office or clinic" only if the person does not (1) provide them "in exchange for payments based on a percentage or share of revenues or profits of the dental practice" or (2) exercise any authority or control over the clinical practice of dentistry. Fixed, cost-plus, per-unit, or other nonpercentage methodologies may fit the text if they also avoid clinical control; none is an automatic safe harbor from the rest of chapter 631. Fee-sharing outside the statutory support framework is criminal under NRS 631.395(10). For the MSA, test whether a **percentage-of-collections** fee is permitted under the state's dental, fee-splitting, referral, tax, and contract rules. Several states expressly restrict revenue-linked dental management fees, and the Aspen Dental settlements imposed related party-specific terms. Flat and cost-plus formulas are not automatic safe harbors; the services, calculation, amount, control rights, and actual payments still matter. See [Fee-splitting rules](/concepts/model/fee-splitting) and [Set the management fee](/guides/agreements/set-the-management-fee). ## 5. Dentist noncompetes No dental-specific noncompete statute was identified in the sources this page relies on; enforceability runs on Nevada's general restrictive-covenant law. Verify with counsel before including one. Federal noncompete policy changed substantially in 2025 and 2026. The FTC's Non-Compete Rule was vacated, the agency dismissed its appeals in September 2025, and the rule was removed from 16 C.F.R. pt. 910 effective February 12, 2026. State law remains central. Dental enforcement resolutions in New York and California have also restricted noncompetes for the settling parties as a corporate-practice remedy. **Verify the current rule, worker, agreement type, transaction context, effective date, and remedy in this state.** See the [legislation tracker](/reference/legal/dental-legislation-tracker). ## 6. DSO-specific law and registration Nevada enacted a full DSO framework in 2009 (amended 2011, 2013, 2019, 2023): | Provision | What it does | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | NRS 631.215(2)(i) | Support goods and services are outside the practice of dentistry if fees are not revenue-linked and the provider exercises no clinical control | | NRS 631.215(3) | The Board must adopt regulations identifying what counts as clinical control. Those regulations "must not prohibit or regulate aspects of the business relationship, other than the clinical practice of dentistry." The regulations appear in NAC ch. 631; verify current numbers with counsel. | | NRS 631.3455 | Unlicensed persons may provide support services and transact in practice property, **except ownership of clinical patient records** and employment of licensed dentists, hygienists, dental therapists, and expanded-function dental assistants | | NRS 631.3456 | Compliant support arrangements are not illegal practice, not unprofessional conduct, and do not taint the dentist's contract | | NRS 631.3457 | The Board may pursue revocation of a violating support person's **state business license** through the Secretary of State | | **NRS 631.388** | "A person who manages the business of a dental practice, office or clinic shall **register with the Board**." The filing includes the name, business address, practice addresses, and identity of the dentist or entity whose business is managed. | See [Register a DSO](/guides/compliance/register-a-dso) for the registration workflow. ## 7. Death and transition window NRS 631.385 lets a surviving family member own or control the deceased dentist's practice, share fees, and control services without a license for up to **2 years** after death; dentists working for such an owner are exempt from the NRS 631.3465(3) association prohibition. See [Plan for succession](/guides/formation/plan-for-succession). ## 8. Practical structuring notes **Nevada states several support conditions directly.** The statutes address revenue-linked fees, clinical control, employment of specified clinical personnel, ownership of clinical records, and manager registration. NRS 631.3456 supplies a defense whose elements and scope should be read with §§ 631.3455 and 631.3457; a failed element does not make every listed consequence automatic, because the applicable violation, person, proof, and enforcement path still matter. A dating note: the framework's provisions were added in 2009; a circulating pointer attributing it to "AB 265 of 2015" was not verified against the official history lines. ## 9. Verification checklist * [ ] Confirmed the permitted entity form **for dentistry** in this state * [ ] Confirmed whether dental board pre-approval or a certificate is required before filing * [ ] Confirmed whether officers and directors must be licensed dentists * [ ] Confirmed the management fee structure is lawful here, including any restriction on revenue-linked fees * [ ] Clinical carve-out drafted against **this state's** current statutory language, including any enumerated control prohibitions * [ ] Transfer restriction and succession documents checked against this state's death-transition window * [ ] Noncompete provisions checked against current state law * [ ] DSO foreign-qualified before it has employees here * [ ] Any **DSO registration, licensure, or disclosure obligation** identified and calendared * [ ] Trade-name and advertising-disclosure rules for dental practices checked ## 10. Sources and where to verify | What | Where | | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Illegal-practice ownership ban | [NRS 631.395 (official Legislature chapter, section anchor)](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html#NRS631Sec395) | | Practice definition and support-services safe harbor | [NRS 631.215 (official Legislature chapter, section anchor)](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html#NRS631Sec215) | | Manager registration | [NRS 631.388 (official Legislature chapter, section anchor)](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html#NRS631Sec388) | | Family transition window | [NRS 631.385 (official Legislature chapter, section anchor)](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html#NRS631Sec385) | | Dental director for entity owners | [NRS 631.3452](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html#NRS631Sec3452), [NRS 631.3453](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html#NRS631Sec3453) (official Legislature section anchors) | | Full chapter (official) | [NRS ch. 631](https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-631.html) | | Board regulations (clinical-control definitions) | NAC ch. 631, via the Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners | | Entity formation and good standing | The Nevada Secretary of State | | Pending legislation | The [dental legislation tracker](/reference/legal/dental-legislation-tracker) | For the cases and statutes referenced above, see [DSO & dental case law](/reference/legal/dso-case-law) and the [51-jurisdiction table](/reference/legal/dso-laws-by-state). For enacted and pending legislation, see the [dental legislation tracker](/reference/legal/dental-legislation-tracker).