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When dentists bare their teeth

Michael Rosen points us to this lawsuit (via this law firm) by a South Shore dental practice against a dentist who left and set up his own practice nearby.

As Rosen notes, they're suing under a clause in his original contract they say prohibits him from setting up shop within 15 miles of his original office for three years. So? Well, turns out that while lawyers, doctors, nurses, social workers and, um, broadcasters are exempt from the state law that makes non-compete clauses legal, dentists aren't.

Certainly a good argument can be made that the public policy underlying the exclusion for physicians -- that a patient's interest in receiving medical treatment from the doctor of her choice overrides any business interest in restricting unfair competition -- should apply equally to dentists. But for now, dentists don't enjoy this protection.

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