Amy Fitzhugh Speaks to ECU Dental Graduates

For new dentists in North Carolina, understanding the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners isn’t optional; it’s essential.

Ward and Smith professional licensing attorney Amy Fitzhugh made that clear in a recent presentation to ECU dental graduates, offering a practical overview of what the Board does, what it expects, and what to do if a complaint comes your way.

Amy, who spent nearly a decade as the North Carolina Board of Nursing’s first in-house attorney before joining Ward and Smith, leads the firm’s Professional Licensing Practice Group and regularly represents health care professionals, including dentists, before state licensing boards. Her core message to graduates: the Board’s job is to protect the public, not practitioners.

She walked attendees through license maintenance basics, such as annual renewal deadlines, CE requirements, and the consequences of letting a license lapse, before turning to the topic most new dentists hope to avoid: complaints. Amy told graduates to expect a complaint over the course of a career and handle it carefully. Call your malpractice carrier, don’t represent yourself, and be cooperative throughout the process. Most complaints are resolved before reaching a formal hearing, but the downstream effects of disciplinary action, such as insurance credentialing, Medicaid participation, and professional reputation, can be significant.

She also pointed graduates to the NC Caring Dental Professionals program, a confidential resource for dental professionals dealing with substance use, burnout, or other impairments that can affect practice.