Non-dentists are not allowed to advertise general and specialist dentistry services that fall beyond their professional training. Advertising that presents a person who is not a dentist as able to provide general and specialist dentistry — beyond their training and competence — is a breach of the law.
That principle has been affirmed by the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) in a ruling dated 10 September 2026, delivered on a complaint brought by the Kenya Dental Association.
The case
In General Case No. 24 of 2025, the Association raised concern over promotional material published by Celestial Dental Centre in which Mr. Dennis Onyango Ombeo — a registered Community Oral Health Officer and the clinic’s proprietor — was presented to the public as “Dr. Dennis”. The promotional video, circulated on the clinic’s online and social-media platforms to market its Kamakis branch, advertised a range of services including implants, orthodontic treatment and restorative procedures — services that ordinarily require the involvement of registered dentists or specialists.
KDA’s position before the Committee was that this was not a question of nomenclature but of public protection: a member of the public viewing the advertisement could reasonably take the person featured to be the doctor responsible for, or competent to deliver, the advertised services. The Association assisted the Committee as the reporting professional body.
What the Committee found
- Unauthorised use of a protected title. Mr. Ombeo represented himself using a title to which he was not legally entitled. Section 22(3) of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act (Cap. 253) makes it an offence to use the title “doctor” without being registered or licensed under the Act as a medical practitioner or dentist, or otherwise holding a qualification entitling one to the title.
- Misleading advertising. Presenting a Community Oral Health Officer as “Doctor” in dental promotional material was objectively misleading and contrary to the Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Practitioners and Health Facilities) (Advertising) Rules, Legal Notice No. 130 of 2016. The concern was magnified by the simultaneous promotion of procedures requiring registered dentists or specialists, with no distinction drawn between services performed by oral health officers and those provided by dentists.
- The facility is accountable. The clinic could not escape responsibility by attributing the content to a website developer. In the Committee’s words, outsourcing the technical function of creating promotional material does not outsource a facility’s regulatory obligation to ensure that statements about its staff, professional titles and services are accurate before publication.
- Governance gaps. The clinic did not demonstrate documented practitioner-engagement arrangements, nor a clearly identified dentist-in-charge bearing continuous clinical responsibility for the facility.
The determination
The Committee, chaired by Prof. Marion Mutugi, EBS, determined that:
- Mr. Dennis Ombeo is culpable for misrepresenting himself through the unauthorised use of the title “Doctor”, in breach of statutory provisions, and is fined KShs 1,000,000.
- Celestial Dental Centre is vicariously liable for permitting the misleading representation on its platform, and is fined KShs 1,000,000.
- The facility is to be inspected to verify its staffing, governance arrangements, recruitment practices and overall regulatory compliance.
- A registered dentist whose credentials were associated with the facility is to be summoned to explain that association, and directed either to assume responsibility for the facility or to withdraw.
What this ruling means
This ruling means that patients are cautioned against seeking services from quacks — persons who set out to misrepresent themselves as qualified doctors. No person may claim, in advertising or by misrepresentation, that they can perform procedures beyond what the law allows and what is strictly reserved for trained and competent general and specialist dentists.
All Kenyans are advised to report complaints of fraud, malpractice and quackery to the Kenya Dental Association at dentalcomplaints@kda.or.ke or through the public complaint portal, and to the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council at legal@kmpdc.go.ke.
All Kenyans deserve quality and safe dentistry — not exploitation by persons masquerading as trained doctors and seeking to cash in on under-regulation of the dentistry sector. Qualified dentists are to be found in public hospitals and private dental facilities, and on the public registers of dentists on the KMPDC and Kenya Dental Association websites.
The role of Community Oral Health Officers
The role of Community Oral Health Officers is education, health prevention and promotion: educating children in schools and mothers at antenatal clinics, educating patients on the wards, and conducting screening camps. Their role is to reduce the burden of dental disease through public health promotion — not to engage in general dentistry clinical practice.
A word to KDA members
The Committee also identified a broader professional risk: registered dentists permitting their names, licences or credentials to be associated with facilities without maintaining active oversight. It recommended that members of the Association be sensitised on this risk.
The Committee was clear that a practitioner whose credentials are relied upon for a facility’s registration or professional governance should not lend his or her name to an institution without corresponding responsibility and oversight. Public confidence in regulated dentistry depends on professional titles and facility registrations accurately reflecting the persons who actually bear responsibility for patient care.
The Association therefore urges every member to ensure that any facility using their name holds a documented engagement setting out their role, duties, availability and supervisory responsibility — and to withdraw their association from any facility where they do not, in practice, exercise that oversight.
KMPDC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, General Case No. 24 of 2025 — Kenya Dental Association (Complainant) v Dennis Onyango Ombeo and Celestial Dental Centre (Respondents). Dated at Nairobi, 10 September 2026.