Criminal Responsibility of Dental and Oral Therapists in Performing Dental and Oral Health Services

In Indonesia, the authority of a dental and oral therapist is regulated in Indonesian Article 12 of the Regulation of the Minister of Health Number 20 of 2016 concerning Permits and Implementation of the Practice of Dental and Oral Therapists. In addition to this authority, the dental and oral therapist may perform an act of delegating authority from the dentist in writing. If the dental and oral therapist delegates authority in writing on the grounds of helping each other because of the large number of patients, can they be charged with criminal liability? On that basis, the researchers focused on the problem, namely what is the form of criminal responsibility for dental and oral therapists in providing dental and oral health services? The purpose of this study was to determine the criminal responsibility of dental and oral therapists in performing dental and oral health services. The research method used in this study is a normative research method and the problem approach used is the approach to applicable laws and regulations which focuses on primary legal materials that regulate criminal law, namely criminal malpractice. The results of the study found that dental and oral therapists who carried out unwritten acts of delegation of authority from dentists as long as they did not have a negative impact on patients and did not meet the elements of criminal malpractice cannot be charged with criminal responsibility, on the contrary, dental and oral therapists who provide dental health services and mouth that meets the elements of criminal malpractice can be charged with criminal liability