Representative Frank Tomaszewski presented House Bill 197 to the committee as a package of updates requested by the Board of Dental Examiners to modernize oversight, expand access and improve enforcement. The bill would, among other changes, create a dedicated executive administrator for the board and update certain licensure provisions.

But several registered dental hygienists and educators urged the committee to retain a statutory minimum of two academic years of instruction for dental hygiene programs. Lisa Wells, president of the Alaska Dental Hygienist Association, told members she and the association “are in opposition to the change proposed regarding the length of dental hygiene education” and said a two‑year standard aligns with Commission on Dental Accreditation expectations.

Dr. Carrie Schamberger, a dental‑hygiene educator and vice president of the hygienist association, said the two‑year benchmark supports clinical competencies needed in rural and unsupervised practice settings and that weakening the standard could reduce the pipeline of locally trained hygienists. She recommended amending the statute to require “curriculum that includes at least two academic years of full‑time instruction or its equivalent at the post‑secondary college level.”

Gail Walden, a practicing hygienist since 2003, told the committee she had difficulty accessing up‑to‑date board meeting information and said the proposed removal of the two‑year language is unnecessary; she recommended keeping or strengthening the existing standard to protect public safety.

Sponsor Representative Tomaszewski said the board requested the changes to increase administrative efficiency and enforcement capacity; staff explained the board seeks an executive administrator to improve application processing. Committee members asked for more information and the record shows the bill will return for additional work in the future. The hearing closed without a committee vote on HB 197.