The Dental Hygiene Board of California on July 19 approved the final draft of proposed amendments to California Code of Regulations, Title 16, section 1,005, Minimum Standards for Infection Control, moving the regulatory package forward for the next stage of the rulemaking process.

Board President Joanne Pacheco presided as Executive Officer Anthony Lum described the draft as the result of an ongoing multi-year, joint effort with the Dental Board of California to update infection-control rules. "This next agenda item has been an ongoing issue and a collaborative effort between the Dental Hygiene Board and the Dental Board of California," Lum said during his presentation.

The board’s action followed a motion by board member Michael Long to approve the final draft and a second, and it came after the Dental Board of California voted on a parallel version at its May meeting. The proposed regulation package incorporates clarifications and revisions that experts from both boards reviewed over the past year.

Why it matters: the infection-control rules govern clinical practices that affect patient safety in dental settings. The current standards had not been comprehensively revised in years; a representative of the Dental Board of California told the board the rules were last substantively updated in 2011 and called the revisions “crucial for consumer protection.”

Discussion and public comment: Christie Bell, interim executive officer for the Dental Board of California, addressed the board during public comment and urged the Dental Hygiene Board to authorize the version the Dental Board had approved so the public-comment process could begin. At the meeting Maureen Titus asked whether annual review language in the old draft had been removed; Anthony Lum replied that both boards will review the regulations annually and any required changes would be considered at that time.

Roll call and outcome: Board Secretary Lolly Agarwal called the roll for the item. One member abstained and the motion passed by majority vote. The board’s approval authorizes staff to proceed with the regulatory package as amended by the joint work group.

The board did not adopt new statutory language at the meeting; it approved a regulatory text for the next step in the rulemaking process. Members and the public who commented emphasized the consumer-protection purpose of updating infection-control standards and thanked the multi-agency work group for its year-long review.