[ Act No. 2602., February 04, 1916 ]

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS ONE, FIVE, AND SIX OF ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO, ENTITLED "AN ACT PROVIDING NEW REGULATIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF DENTISTS AND THE PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Legislature, that:

SECTION 1. Section pne of Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and sixty-two is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. Board of Dental Examiners; appointment of members; qualifications required for such appointment; removal and appointment of their successors.-The Director of Health, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior of the Philippine Islands, shall appoint a Board of Dental -Examiners consisting of three reputable dentists, legally practicing their profession in the Philippine Islands at the time of their appointment, who are graduates of any reputable dental college or institution legally constituted and recognized as such by the Insular Government.  They shall hold office for three years after their appointment, and until their successors are appointed and qualified: Provided, That no member of the faculty of any school, college, or university in which any of the branches of odontology is taught, shall be eligible for such appointment: And provided, further, That of the first appointments made, one shall expire on the thirty-first of December, nineteen hundred and fifteen; another on the thirty-first of December, nineteen hundred and sixteen; and the third on the thirty-first of December, nineteen hundred and seventeen, as certified in their respective certificates of appointment. Each person appointed to the Board shall qualify by taking and subscribing t© the following oath of office:

"'I,...........................................................having been
appointed a member of the Board of Dental Examiners for the Philippine Islands, do hereby solemnly swear that I have the qualifications required by law; that I will well and truly perform the duties of said office; that I will give an exact and full account of all moneys coming into my hands as such officer; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Government of the United States and to the Government of the Philippine Islands; and that I take this oath without any mental reservation whatsoever.  So help me God.'

"The oath shall be filed and recorded in the office of the Director of Health.

"The Director of Health, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall fill any vacancy that may occur in the board within one month after the vacancy occurs, and the person so appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office only for the unexpired term of the member whose place he is appointed to fill. The Director of Health, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, may remove any member of said board for neglect of duty, or incompetency, or for unprofessional or dishonorable conduct, or for any other just cause."

SEC. 2. Section five of said Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and sixty-two is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. Reports of the board and rules for the same.-The Board of Dental Examiners shall, on the thirty-first of December of each year, make a detailed report to the Director of Health of all its work during the year, and of all moneys received and disbursed by it during that period.

"With the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of Health shall prepare, with the assistance of the Council of Hygiene, the necessary rules whereby the Board of Dental Examiners shall be governed in the performance of its duties."

SEC. 3. Section six of said Act Numbered Twenty-four hundred and sixty-two is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 6. Qualifications of candidates to be admitted to examination.-Hereafter the Board of Dental Examiners shall admit to examination for the practice of dentistry in the Philippine Islands only those persons who have a diploma of doctor of dental surgery or medicine from an institution duly accredited and legally constituted, in which the following branches are taught during three years in regular nine-month courses: anatomy, physiology, histology, bacteriology, operative dental chemistry, dental prosthesis, metallurgy, dental anatomy, porcelain work, crown and bridge work, therapeutics and materia medica, general pathology, buccal pathology, minor surgery and anesthesia, surgery of the mouth, and dental jurisprudence: Provided, That a duly accredited institution shall be understood to be any school, college, or university which is incorporated and issues diplomas and confers degrees in accordance with section one hundred and sixty-eight of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine: Provided, however. That all students who at present are bona fide taking a course in dentistry in the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, and who will graduate as surgeon dentists from said institution in the academic courses terminating in March, nineteen hundred and fifteen, and in March, nineteen hundred and sixteen, shall be exempt from this requirement and may be admitted to examination provided they have the title of dental surgeon from said university and have all the other qualifications hereinunder prescribed."

SEC. 4. This Act. shall take effect on its passage.

Enacted, February 4, 1916.