The law governing dentistry on the Island needs to be clarified, dentists say.

A new row between the Dental Board and James Fay has led to dentists scouring the law books and wondering whether they are all breaking the law, according to one dentist who asked not to be named.

?The Dental Act is extremely vague and I do not know what is legal for a dentist hygienist to do in Bermuda and what is not,? he said.

?This is something that has just come to the attention of many of the dentists on the Island ? that the Act is so vague as to possibly mean that much of what the dental hygienists do as a matter of routine is not specifically allowed under the act.?

As an example, he cited that the act stipulates that dental hygienists can only clean down to three millimetres of deep periodontal pockets ? which can be as deep as eight to ten millimetres.

He cautioned that he was not necessarily supporting Dr. Fay?s stance in his dispute with the Dental Board.

?The matter that Dr. Fay is dealing with, is beyond what is allowed legally in many areas.

?His hygienist is licensed to place fillings in certain areas of Canada but not in all areas.?

The Board is launching an inquiry into complaints that Dr. Fay?s hygienist had been illegally performing procedures. The hygienist has been suspended pending the inquiry.

Dr. Fay says that his hygienist performs procedures that every other dental hygienist does under the dentist?s supervision.

But, while the case has lead Island dentists to peruse the law, the dentist said that Dr. Fay is definitely not speaking for all dentists.

?It has made us all question whether all of us are in breach of the act,? he said. But ?if there?s any person who may be violating the spirit of the act, his hygienist would be that person.?

Former Dental Board member Rhonda James said that the Board had been working on updating the Dental Act for several years.

?But it?s not a simple thing, it?s an involved process.?

She said her dental hygienists don?t do fillings, they clean teeth, take X-rays and do preliminary exams.

But she said she was not concerned that they were breaking the law.

?He?s been trained to manage dental hygienists with expanded duties ? I don?t know if the Dental Act allows for that,? she said of Dr. Fay?s case.

But she added: ?The state of the industry is really overtaxed and I have a hard time faulting a colleague for trying to manage his practice more efficiently.?

Jewel Landy, president of the Dental Association, asked to comment said: ?The Association feels that the Dental Act and the regulations are outdated.

?The consequent confusion has resulted, in what we feel to be, the unfair suspension of a dental hygienist.?

She would not say whether she was referring to Dr. Fay?s dental hygienist or not.

Chief Medical Officer John Cann could not be reached for comment.