Georgia is strict in two places that cost owners money. Continuing education has a real in-person floor that a stack of online courses will not satisfy, and x-ray facility registration requires a shielding design for each room with permanently installed equipment, submitted as part of the application rather than after the fact. Non-competes, meanwhile, are governed by a 2009 statute that was only able to take effect after voters ratified a constitutional amendment in 2010, which is why Georgia case law before and after that date reads so differently.
Key takeaways
- Georgia dental licenses expire at the close of December 31 in all odd-numbered years, and are administratively revoked for non-renewal on July 1 of the following even-numbered year. The board extended the deadline for the most recent cycle twice, first to January 15, 2026 and then to February 15, 2026.
- Dentists need 40 hours of CE per biennium under Rule 150-3-.09, with at least 20 hours acquired in person at an on-site course, at least 30 hours in clinical courses in the actual delivery of dental services, 1 hour on opioids, and 1 hour on legal ethics and professionalism.
- Dental hygienists need 22 hours per biennium under Rule 150-5-.05, with at least 15 scientific hours and at least 11 hours in person.
- X-ray registration goes through the Department of Community Health. A new certificate of registration application is $300, and the recurring annual activity fee for existing registrants has been suspended pending revised rules.
Rules change, so verify before acting. Everything below was checked against an official Georgia or federal source in September 2026. The x-ray annual fee is suspended pending a rules revision, which means it can come back. Confirm with the agency and with counsel before you act.
Who regulates what
| Topic | Agency | Official link |
|---|---|---|
| Dentist and hygienist licensure and renewal | Georgia Board of Dentistry | Georgia Board of Dentistry |
| Dentist continuing education | Georgia Board of Dentistry, Rule 150-3-.09 | Rule 150-3-.09 |
| Dental hygiene rules and CE | Georgia Rules Chapter 150-5 | Chapter 150-5, dental hygiene |
| Dental assistant duties, including radiographs | Georgia Rules Chapter 150-9 | Chapter 150-9, dental assistants |
| X-ray facility registration | Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division | X-ray facilities |
| X-ray registration fee | Georgia DCH | Licensing fees |
| Non-competes | Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act, O.C.G.A. 13-8-50 through 13-8-59 | 2009 summary of enacted statutes |
| Amalgam separators and dental wastewater | US EPA rule, enforced by your local pretreatment control authority | EPA dental effluent guidelines |
License renewal and continuing education
The board's own FAQ sets the cycle: licenses expire at the close of December 31 in all odd-numbered years, and are administratively revoked for non-renewal on July 1 of the following even-numbered year. That six-month window between expiration and revocation is not a grace period to practice in, it is a window to reinstate. The board has also extended the deadline in recent cycles, publishing notices moving it to January 15, 2026 and then to February 15, 2026, so watch board notices rather than assuming December 31 is final.
Rule 150-3-.09 sets dentist CE at a minimum of 40 hours of continuing education during each biennium. Inside that total:
- At least 20 of the 40 hours must be acquired in person at an on-site course.
- At least 30 hours must be clinical courses in the actual delivery of dental services.
- 1 hour must cover the impact of opioid abuse, proper prescription writing, or the use of opioids.
- 1 hour must cover legal ethics and professionalism in the practice of dentistry, effective January 1, 2022.
- 4 credit hours may be claimed for successful completion of an in-person CPR course.
The in-person requirement hardened recently. The board announced that as of January 1, 2024, the COVID-era flexibility ended: live, instructor-led virtual courses or seminars no longer substitute for the in-person on-site requirement. If you have been counting a live Zoom course toward the in-person 20, stop.
Dental hygienists sit under Rule 150-5-.05 at a minimum of 22 hours per biennium, with at least 15 scientific hours in the actual delivery of dental services and at least 11 of the 22 acquired in person at an on-site course. Compliance with CE is a condition of renewal, and failure can support denial of renewal and disciplinary action.
X-ray equipment: registration and inspection
Georgia registers x-ray facilities through the Department of Community Health's Healthcare Facility Regulation Division rather than through an environmental or radiation agency. The requirement is stated plainly: users of radiation machines must be registered with the Department prior to the operation of x-ray equipment in the state.
An application package includes:
- The x-ray registration application, filed through the online portal at forms.dch.georgia.gov
- An affidavit
- Picture identification
- A shielding design for each room with permanently installed equipment
Medical facilities registering bone densitometers are exempt from the shielding plan, as are most non-medical and industrial facilities other than enclosed room installations. A dental practice with wall-mounted intraoral units, a pan or a CBCT is not exempt.
On fees, DCH lists a $300.00 application fee for an initial certificate of registration, and states that the recurring annual activity fee for existing x-ray registrants has been suspended until revised rules for x-ray machines are promulgated. Read that as a temporary condition rather than a permanent saving: budget for the annual fee to return.
The program operates under the Georgia Radiation Control Act at O.C.G.A. Chapter 31-13, and DCH states that only licensed practitioners and authorized operators may apply radiation to a person.
The shielding design requirement makes imaging a design decision, not a purchasing decision. If you are planning a buildout or adding a CBCT to an existing operatory, get the shielding design done while the walls are open and file it with the registration application. Discovering it after drywall is expensive.
Who may take radiographs
Georgia answers this cleanly. Rule 150-9-.01(3)(b) allows a dental assistant to place and expose radiographs after completing the training required by Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 111-8-90-.04, the rule titled X-Rays in the Health Arts. The duty falls under general duties requiring direct supervision, which means the licensed Georgia dentist must be in the facility while the radiographs are taken.
The practical effect is a two-document answer for any new assistant: the dental board rule that authorizes the duty, and the health rule that specifies the training. Get both on file for each assistant who takes radiographs, and keep the training documentation with your personnel records.
For general mechanics, see dental x-ray registration and inspections, plus intraoral x-ray units, panoramic units and CBCT units.
Buying and selling used equipment in Georgia
Registration precedes operation
Georgia says registration must be in place prior to operating x-ray equipment. If you buy a used pan at auction in March and want it producing images in April, the registration and shielding design have to be finished in between. Build that into the schedule, not into the hope that nobody checks.
Shielding design is part of the purchase price
When you price a used CBCT or pan for an existing operatory, add the cost of a shielding design by a qualified expert to the acquisition budget. That is a real line item Georgia forces and many buyers forget. Our guide to the hidden costs of buying used equipment covers the rest of the category.
Diligence on a practice purchase
Ask for the seller's certificate of registration, the machine list, and the shielding designs on file for each imaging room. A practice that cannot produce shielding documentation for a CBCT installed five years ago is telling you something. See the practice acquisition due diligence checklist.
Amalgam separators and wastewater
Georgia does not publish a separate state separator rule. The federal EPA dental rule at 40 CFR Part 441 applies if you place or remove amalgam and discharge to a publicly owned treatment works: a compliant separator, best management practices (no flushing scrap amalgam, no oxidizing line cleaners), and a one-time compliance report filed with your pretreatment control authority, usually the county or municipal water utility. Ask what it wants from an incoming owner at closing. See amalgam separators and dental waste disposal.
Run the pre-purchase equipment checklist before you commit to any used imaging purchase.
Non-competes and employment
Georgia's modern framework comes from the 2009 Restrictive Covenants Act, enacted as Act 64 (House Bill 173), which amended O.C.G.A. section 13-8-2, enacted sections 13-8-50 through 13-8-59, and repealed section 13-8-2.1. The General Assembly's own summary of statutes enacted that session describes the law this way:
- It provides for the enforcement of contracts that restrict competition in certain commercial agreements as long as the restrictions in the restrictive covenant are reasonable in time, geographic area, and scope of prohibited activities.
- It provides for judicial enforcement of restrictive covenants and the application of certain rebuttable presumptions.
- Courts may modify a covenant that is otherwise void and unenforceable, as long as the modification does not render the covenant more restrictive with regard to the employee than as originally drafted by both parties.
The effective date is the reason older Georgia case law can mislead you. The Act took effect the day following ratification, at the 2010 general election, of an amendment to the Georgia Constitution providing for the enforcement of covenants in commercial contracts that limit competition. Before that, Georgia courts were notably hostile to overbroad covenants and refused to blue pencil them. After it, courts can modify. If your associate contract template was drafted from a pre-2011 Georgia form, or from an out-of-state form, it is probably wrong in both directions.
Two practical questions for Georgia counsel. First, does the person signing fall into a category the Act allows to be bound, since the statute limits who may be subject to a non-compete. Second, how will a court handle a covenant that is too broad in one dimension: modification is permitted but is not unlimited, and a covenant drafted expecting rescue is a bad plan.
We verified these terms from the General Assembly's summary of enacted statutes rather than from the codified text, because we could not open the official code sections directly. Read O.C.G.A. 13-8-50 through 13-8-59 with a Georgia employment attorney.
At the federal level, the FTC's non-compete rule is not in effect. The Commission voted on September 5, 2025 to dismiss its appeals and accede to the vacatur, so state law governs. See our national overview of non-compete agreements for dentists and the associate contract red flags guide.
What we could not confirm
- The codified text of O.C.G.A. 13-8-50 through 13-8-59. We verified the Restrictive Covenants Act terms from the General Assembly's 2009 summary of enacted statutes.
- Whether Georgia's x-ray annual activity fee has resumed, and at what amount. DCH describes it as suspended pending revised rules.
- How often Georgia inspects dental x-ray facilities, and what the renewal cycle for a certificate of registration is.
- What a registrant must file when adding, removing or transferring an x-ray machine. DCH points applicants to the x-ray application instructions and its x-ray mailbox.
- Sales and use tax treatment of dental equipment, including private-party purchases. Confirm with the Georgia Department of Revenue and your CPA.
- Georgia limits on non-dentist ownership of a dental practice. Confirm with a dental-specific attorney.
Where to verify
- Georgia Board of Dentistry: board home, dental FAQs, and Rule 150-3-.09 on dentist CE
- Georgia Secretary of State rules: Chapter 150-5, dental hygiene and Chapter 150-9, dental assistants
- Georgia Department of Community Health: x-ray facilities and licensing fees
- Georgia General Assembly: 2009 summary of general statutes enacted, including HB 173
- US Environmental Protection Agency: dental effluent guidelines, 40 CFR Part 441
- Federal Trade Commission: September 2025 statement on the non-compete rule
Putting it to work
Plan your Georgia CE around the in-person floor first and fill the rest in later: 20 of 40 hours for dentists and 11 of 22 for hygienists have to be on-site, and live virtual no longer counts. On the equipment side, treat the shielding design as part of any imaging purchase or buildout, and get your registration approved before the machine takes its first image. On employment, have a Georgia attorney rebuild your restrictive covenant template against the Restrictive Covenants Act rather than editing an inherited form.
Related reading: x-ray registration and inspections, non-compete agreements for dentists, the practice acquisition due diligence checklist, and the rest of the state resources directory.
This guide is educational content and does not constitute legal, financial, tax, or clinical advice. Laws and regulations vary by state and change over time. Consult your own dental-specific attorney, CPA, and state dental board before acting.