Montana is a small-population state with two features that matter more than its size suggests. Its radiation machine registration runs on a two-year cycle with a 30-day possession trigger, and its code contains a broad provision voiding contracts that restrain someone from exercising a lawful profession, subject to narrow exceptions. That second point makes Montana one of the more interesting states in the country for anyone signing or writing a restrictive covenant.
Key takeaways
- Montana Code Annotated 28-2-703 states that any contract restraining someone from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business is void to the extent of the restraint, except as provided in 28-2-704 and 28-2-705.
- Radiation machines register with DPHHS within 30 days of a person or facility taking possession, and registration renews every two years.
- Machines brought temporarily into Montana require written notice at least two working days before use.
- The Board of Dentistry's own reactivation form, citing rule 24.138.514, lists 60 hours of CE for dentists and 36 for dental hygienists and denturists across the three most current renewal years.
Rules change, so verify before you act. Everything below was checked against an official Montana or federal source in September 2026. Montana's licensing rules sit in the Administrative Rules of Montana, which we could not load, so several licensure details are listed as unconfirmed. Confirm with the Board of Dentistry and DPHHS, and take non-compete questions to a Montana attorney.
Who regulates what
| Topic | Agency | Official link |
|---|---|---|
| Dentist, hygienist and denturist licensure | Montana Board of Dentistry, Department of Labor and Industry, Business Standards Division | Montana Board of Dentistry |
| License applications, fees and anesthesia permits | Montana Board of Dentistry | License information |
| Board rules, including continuing education | Administrative Rules of Montana, chapter 24.138 | Board administrative rules |
| Radiation machine registration | Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Quality Assurance Division | Radiation machine registration |
| Radiologic technologist licensure | Montana Board of Radiologic Technologists, Department of Labor and Industry | Radiologic Technologists board |
| Amalgam separators and dental wastewater | US EPA rule, enforced by your local pretreatment control authority | EPA dental effluent guidelines |
| Restraints on trade and profession | Montana Code Annotated 28-2-703 | MCA 28-2-703 |
| Bloodborne pathogens, hazard communication, PPE | Federal OSHA | OSHA |
License renewal and continuing education
Montana's dental board sits inside the Department of Labor and Industry rather than a health agency, and its public pages focus on applications, fees and permits rather than on renewal mechanics. The CE requirements live in the Administrative Rules of Montana at chapter 24.138. We were not able to load the rule text from the state's rules site, so we are limited to what the board itself publishes in its forms.
The board's reactivation form, which cites rule 24.138.514 on converting from inactive to active status, lists CE totals by profession:
| Profession | Hours listed | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Dentist | 60 hours | The three most current renewal years |
| Dental hygienist | 36 hours | The three most current renewal years |
| Denturist | 36 hours | The three most current renewal years |
Read that carefully. Those figures come from the requirement for converting an inactive license back to active, which is not necessarily the same as the ongoing requirement for a licensee who never went inactive. They imply a per-year rate, but implication is not confirmation. Before you build a CE plan around a number, open the current chapter 24.138 rules or contact the board. The department directs CE questions to 406-444-5696 or AUDIT@MT.GOV.
The board's general renewal notice practice is worth knowing: renewal notices go out by mail and email, and licensees must update their mailing address within 30 days of a change. If you moved and did not tell the department, a missed renewal is on you.
Montana is a state where the authoritative answer really is in the administrative rules rather than on a web page. Rather than reading summaries, email the board and ask two questions in writing: what is my current CE requirement and over what period, and what is my renewal date. Keep the reply.
X-ray equipment: registration and inspection
DPHHS runs radiation machine registration, and the rules are stated in terms of possession rather than use. A person or facility having possession of any radiation machine must register it within 30 days. Registration renews every two years, which is less common than the annual cycle most states run.
Two other mechanics the program publishes:
- Registration is completed through an online portal at mt.accessgov.com, under the DPHHS quality assurance forms.
- Machines brought temporarily into Montana require written notice at least two working days before use in the state. That applies to mobile units and vendor demonstrations.
The program cites ARM 37.14.307 for the detail, and directs questions to 406-444-5944 or Radiation.Machine.Registration@mt.gov. It does not publish registration fees or an inspection interval on the registration page, so both are questions for the program rather than numbers to plan on.
Montana also licenses radiologic technologists through a separate board at the Department of Labor and Industry. Whether and how that licensure reaches dental radiography in a dental office is a question we could not settle from the pages we read, and it is worth asking both boards before you assign radiographs to a new employee.
For general mechanics see dental x-ray registration and inspections, plus intraoral x-ray units and panoramic units.
Buying and selling used equipment in Montana
Possession starts the clock
The 30-day registration trigger attaches to possession, not to first patient use. If a used intraoral unit is sitting in your utility room waiting for an installer, you have possession. Register it, then install it. The same logic runs the other way: if you sell or scrap a unit, tell DPHHS so your registration reflects reality at the next two-year renewal.
In a practice acquisition, ask for the current DPHHS registration and its machine list, and note when the two-year cycle renews. A registration that renewed eighteen months ago means you inherit a filing in six months, not in two years.
Demonstrations and mobile units
The two working day notice for machines brought temporarily into the state is easy to trip over. If a vendor wants to bring a portable unit or a demo scanner to your office from out of state, ask them to confirm they have filed the notice. If a mobile imaging service works out of your building, the same question applies.
Amalgam separators and wastewater
The federal EPA rule at 40 CFR Part 441 applies to dental offices that place or remove amalgam and discharge to a publicly owned treatment works. Operate and maintain a separator, do not discharge scrap amalgam or use certain line cleaners, and file a one-time compliance report with your pretreatment control authority, typically the municipal sewer utility. In rural Montana, some practices are on septic systems rather than a treatment works, which changes the analysis: ask your engineer and the local authority which rules apply to you. See amalgam separators and dental waste disposal.
Before you commit to a used imaging purchase, run the pre-purchase equipment checklist and read the hidden costs of buying used equipment. Montana's geography also makes freight a real line item, which is covered in shipping dental equipment.
Non-competes and employment
Montana Code Annotated 28-2-703 is short and blunt: any contract by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business is void to the extent of that restraint, except as provided in sections 28-2-704 and 28-2-705. Section 28-2-704 addresses restrictions connected to the sale of business goodwill, and 28-2-705 provides a further carve-out.
That structure is the opposite of most states. In Montana the starting point is that the restraint is void, and the employer has to fit inside a statutory exception. In practice this has the most obvious application to a practice sale: a seller who sells goodwill and agrees not to open across the street is in very different territory from an associate who signed a covenant as a condition of employment.
We did not verify the text of 28-2-704 and 28-2-705 directly, and how Montana courts apply them to employment covenants in a dental practice is exactly the sort of question that turns on case law. What you should take from this page is not "my non-compete is void," but rather that Montana's baseline rule is unusually favorable to the person being restrained, which changes the negotiating posture on both sides of the table.
At the federal level, the FTC's non-compete rule is not in effect. On September 5, 2025 the Commission voted to dismiss its appeals and accede to the vacatur of the rule after a district court held the agency lacked authority to issue it. Montana law controls.
See our national overview of non-compete agreements for dentists, the associate contract review checklist, and associate contract red flags. If you are structuring a practice sale, the goodwill exception is a reason to have the covenant drafted by counsel as part of the purchase agreement rather than bolted on afterward; our guide to transition planning covers the broader sequence.
What we could not confirm
- The ongoing continuing education requirement for an active Montana dentist, hygienist or denturist, and the renewal date and cycle. The figures we cite come from the board's inactive-to-active conversion form, and the rules site would not load for us.
- The text of MCA 28-2-704 and 28-2-705, the two exceptions to the rule voiding restraints on a lawful profession.
- Montana radiation machine registration fees and inspection intervals. DPHHS does not publish them on the registration page.
- Whether Montana's radiologic technologist licensure reaches dental radiography, and what training a dental assistant must have before exposing radiographs.
- Montana limits on non-dentist ownership of a dental practice.
- Sales and use tax treatment of dental equipment. Montana's tax structure differs from most states, so this is a question for your CPA rather than an assumption.
Where to verify
- Montana Board of Dentistry: board home, license information, and administrative rules
- Montana DPHHS: radiation machine registration
- Montana Code Annotated: 28-2-703, contracts in restraint of trade
- Montana Board of Radiologic Technologists: board page
- US Environmental Protection Agency: dental effluent guidelines, 40 CFR Part 441
- Federal Trade Commission: September 2025 statement acceding to vacatur of the non-compete rule
Putting it to work
Two concrete steps. First, email the Board of Dentistry and get your CE requirement and renewal date in writing, because the public pages do not give you a reliable number and the rules site is hard to reach. Second, treat DPHHS registration as a possession event with a 30-day clock, and note the two-year renewal date somewhere you will see it, since a biennial cycle is easy to forget in a way an annual one is not.
On employment, read 28-2-703 before you sign anything, then take it to Montana counsel. The baseline rule is unusual enough to be worth real money in a negotiation.
Related reading: non-compete agreements for dentists, x-ray registration and inspections, the compliance chapter of the operations guide, 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.