Michigan has two features that separate it from its neighbors. The dental CE cycle is three years and 60 hours with several mandatory topics baked in, which is a much bigger commitment than the 20 to 30 hours you see in nearby states. And radiation machine registration does not sit with the licensing bureau at all, it sits inside the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Radiation Safety Section. If you call LARA about an x-ray unit you will be transferred.
Key takeaways
- Michigan dentist licenses run on a three-year cycle with 60 hours of CE, including 3 hours in pain and symptom management, 1 hour in dental ethics and jurisprudence covering delegation to allied personnel, and 1 hour in infection control.
- At least 20 of the 60 hours must be in programs devoted to clinical issues, and at least 20 must be synchronous live courses. No more than 30 of the 60 may be asynchronous.
- Human trafficking and implicit bias training are required but are tracked separately from the 60-hour CE total, so do not count them twice.
- All x-ray machines must be registered before being put into use, and moving a machine to a new address requires a new registration application and fees. Registration is tied to the location, not to the machine.
Rules change. Every item below was checked against an official Michigan or federal source in September 2026. CE rules, fees and forms change, and Michigan has been actively working through dentistry rule revisions. Confirm with the agency before you rely on any of this.
Who regulates what
| Topic | Agency | Official link |
|---|---|---|
| Dentist and hygienist licensure and renewal | Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Michigan Board of Dentistry | LARA Dentistry |
| Dental hygiene and dental assistant scope | Michigan Public Health Code and dentistry administrative rules (R 338.11101 to R 338.11821) | LARA Dentistry licensing guides |
| X-ray machine registration | Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, MIOSHA Radiation Safety Section | MIOSHA Radiation Safety |
| Registration changes, renewals and shielding review | MIOSHA Radiation Safety Section | Maintaining your radiation machine registration |
| Radiographic operator requirements | Michigan Board of Dentistry rules on delegation (confirm directly) | Radiation Safety FAQ |
| Infection control in the dental office | Michigan Board of Dentistry (plus MIOSHA, which runs Michigan's state OSHA plan) | LARA Dentistry |
| Amalgam separators and dental wastewater | US EPA rule, enforced through your local pretreatment control authority | EPA Dental Effluent Guidelines |
| Corporate practice and practice ownership | Michigan Public Health Code plus entity filings with LARA Corporations Division | LARA |
| Sales and use tax on equipment | Michigan Department of Treasury | Michigan Treasury, Taxes |
License renewal and continuing education
LARA's dentist licensing guide sets out a three-year renewal cycle with 60 hours of continuing education. The composition rules are more prescriptive than most states:
- 3 hours in pain and symptom management.
- 1 hour in dental ethics and jurisprudence, which must include delegation of duties to allied dental personnel.
- 1 hour in infection control, which must cover sterilization of handpieces, personal protective equipment, and the CDC infection control guidelines.
- At least 20 hours in programs devoted to clinical issues.
- At least 20 hours from attending synchronous, live courses, with no more than 30 of the 60 hours taken asynchronously.
Human trafficking and implicit bias training are also required of Michigan licensees, and LARA's guide makes clear that those are tracked separately from the 60-hour requirement rather than counting toward it.
The infection control hour deserves attention because of its content requirement. A generic infection control webinar that never mentions handpiece sterilization or the CDC guidelines may not satisfy the rule as written. Read the course outline, not just the title.
Michigan processes CE approvals through CE Broker, and LARA publishes annual lists of approved continuing education programs. If you are buying CE from a provider you have not used before, check that list first.
LARA publishes separate licensing guides for registered dental hygienists and registered dental assistants, which are the right documents for staffing questions. Confirm the CE hours for those credentials from their own guides rather than assuming they mirror the dentist requirement.
X-ray equipment: registration and inspection
Radiation machine registration in Michigan runs through the MIOSHA Radiation Safety Section, inside the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Everything happens in one online system, and the section publishes video tutorials and user guides for it, which is unusually helpful compared with other states.
What the Radiation Safety Section publishes:
- All x-ray machines must be registered before being put into use. There is no grace period for running a machine while paperwork is pending.
- Facility and machine registration, amendments, renewals, mammography authorization and exceptional event reporting all happen through the section's online system, where you also print the certificate you are required to post.
- Moving equipment to a new address requires a new registration application and fees, and the previous registration terminates at the original location. Registration attaches to the location and the use, not to the serial number.
- Radiation shielding plan review is part of what the section handles. Most x-ray installations are subject to design approval by the section, although the FAQ indicates that intraoral dental equipment in non-training settings is generally exempt from that review.
- The section does not conduct an inspection of an x-ray facility before registration or initial use. Inspection comes later.
If you are building out or moving an office with a pan or CBCT, ask the Radiation Safety Section about shielding plan review early in the project, before drywall. Getting a design approved is much cheaper than adding lead to a finished wall. Our chapter on office buildout and operatory design covers where this fits in a construction timeline.
The section's FAQ does not clearly state how a change in ownership is handled as distinct from a change in location, and it does not publish a dental inspection interval on that page. Both are worth a phone call to the section rather than an assumption.
On operators: Michigan's radiation rules and the Board of Dentistry's delegation rules interact here, and the state does not publish a single clear page telling a practice owner what an assistant needs before taking x-rays. The board does not publish this clearly. Confirm directly with LARA and the Board of Dentistry before assigning radiography duties.
For general background see our guide to dental x-ray registration and inspections.
Buying and selling used equipment in Michigan
Registration follows the address
This is the Michigan-specific point that costs people money. Because registration terminates at the original location when a machine moves, a used unit you buy from a closing practice across town does not arrive with a live registration. You register it at your address, with fees, before you use it. Likewise, if you are relocating your own practice, the machines you are taking with you need a new registration at the new address.
Build that into the purchase timeline. If you are opening on the first of the month, the registration needs to be done, not started. Our chapter on equipment planning covers sequencing installs against an opening date.
Amalgam separators and wastewater
Michigan practices comply with the federal EPA dental rule at 40 CFR Part 441. If you place or remove amalgam and discharge to a publicly owned treatment works, you need a separator that meets the standard, you follow the best management practices (no flushing scrap amalgam, no oxidizing line cleaners), and you file a one-time compliance report with your pretreatment control authority, usually the local sewer utility or a regional water resource recovery authority.
A sale or ownership change is the right time to contact that authority and ask what the incoming owner needs to file. EPA's rule page does not address ownership changes, and the control authority sets the expectation. See amalgam separators for equipment selection and recordkeeping.
Lead, chemicals and decommissioning
Pulling out a darkroom means fixer, developer and lead foil. Retiring an old panoramic unit may mean lead-lined components. Aprons that fail inspection become waste. Use a licensed vendor and keep the manifests, because they are your only evidence. Our dental waste disposal guide covers each stream and disconnecting dental equipment safely covers removal.
Non-competes and employment
Michigan permits reasonable non-compete agreements between employers and employees under its antitrust statute, MCL 445.774a. We were not able to open the Michigan Legislature's text of that section to confirm its exact wording, so we are not going to paraphrase its standards here. Read the section itself, or have counsel read it, rather than relying on a summary.
What you can take as the general shape of the landscape: Michigan is an enforcement state, not a ban state. Agreements are evaluated for reasonableness in duration, geography and the scope of activity restricted, and against whether the employer has a legitimate competitive business interest to protect. That makes drafting quality matter, and it makes the specific facts of your practice, its patient draw area and the associate's role matter.
Practically, an associate looking at a Michigan contract should focus on the radius and the tail. A five-mile radius around one location in a dense suburb is a different thing from a fifteen-mile radius around every location a growing group might open. Negotiate the definition of the restricted area, not just the number of miles. Our associate contract red flags guide covers the clauses that matter alongside the covenant.
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 of the rule, so Michigan law governs. Consult a Michigan employment attorney who handles health care employers before you sign or before you draft.
What we could not confirm
- The exact text and standards of MCL 445.774a. The Michigan Legislature's site would not render for us. Read it directly or through counsel.
- What a Michigan dental assistant must complete before exposing radiographs. The state does not publish this clearly in one place. Confirm with LARA and the Board of Dentistry.
- How MIOSHA handles a change of ownership at the same address, as distinct from a change of location.
- The inspection interval for dental x-ray facilities in Michigan.
- Registered dental hygienist and registered dental assistant CE hours. Confirm from their own LARA licensing guides.
- Sales and use tax treatment of dental equipment. Confirm with Michigan Treasury and your CPA, especially on private-party purchases where use tax applies.
- Michigan's limits on non-dentist ownership of a dental practice. Confirm with a dental-specific attorney.
Where to verify
- Michigan LARA: Dentistry licensing and the dentist licensing guide and FAQ
- Michigan LEO, MIOSHA Radiation Safety Section: program home, maintaining your registration, and the radiation safety FAQ
- Michigan LEO: planning or starting up a new x-ray facility
- US Environmental Protection Agency: dental effluent guidelines, 40 CFR Part 441
- Federal Trade Commission: September 2025 statement on the non-compete rule
- Michigan Department of Treasury: michigan.gov/taxes
Putting it to work
Two Michigan habits pay for themselves. Track CE against the composition rules, not just the total, because a dentist who hits 60 hours without the pain and symptom management, ethics and jurisprudence, and infection control components is still short. And treat every x-ray machine move, including one across the parking lot to a new suite, as a new registration with fees and lead time rather than an address update.
Related reading: x-ray registration and inspections, the equipment planning chapter, the Midwest equipment resale market, 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.