How a Dentist (DDS/DMD) Starts a Practice in South Dakota

The South Dakota Board of Dental Examiners permits dentists to administer Botox and dermal fillers for esthetic indications. The permitted scope covers the full face — including upper face (forehead/glabella/crows-feet), mid-face, and perioral regions — provided the dentist has completed appropriate training.

South Dakota requires documented continuing education in aesthetic injectables before a dentist may begin offering these services to patients.

Ownership rules are nuanced in South Dakota — recommended to verify with the state board.

Dentists in South Dakota can offer Botox and dermal fillers as a complementary service to dental practice. Most successful integrations come from dentists who already offer cosmetic dentistry (veneers, smile design) and add perioral aesthetic services as a natural extension. Continuing education from AAFE or DOCS is the typical pathway.

South Dakota has a permissive entity environment — standard LLC is widely used for medical and aesthetic practices, with no requirement for physician-only ownership.

Most dentist-led practices in South Dakota can open the doors for $40,000–$120,000 depending on real-estate footprint, equipment scope, and whether the practice starts solo or with staff. The realistic launch timeline from "I am ready to start" to "I am seeing my first paying patient" is 90–150 days for most clinicians, longer if the entity structure requires physician partnership negotiation.

That spread tracks with the breakdown taught in the My Practice Academy Practice Blueprint — entity formation, banking, EHR, malpractice, equipment financing, marketing, first-90-days operational rhythm. The course is built by Faisal Darwiche, NP, who has launched and operated three independent practices.