Dental Assisting Council to send program‑approval proposal back to working group after stakeholder concerns

The Dental Assisting Council of the Dental Board of California voted on May 14, 2025, to return a staff legislative proposal that would move approval of registered dental assistant (RDA) educational programs and stand‑alone dental assisting courses to recognized accrediting agencies back to the existing working group for further stakeholder discussion.

Board staff told the council that they have found widespread compliance problems in program reviews and reevaluations, including programs that reported far fewer than the 265 required clinical instruction hours, missing student records and evaluation documentation, and programs that ceased operations during reevaluation. Tina Valery, Chief of Dental Assisting Licensing and Program Compliance, told the council that of 21 reevaluations completed recently, 12 resulted in withdrawal of approval and several others closed or received continued approval.

Council members and stakeholders said they shared the goal of ensuring education quality but raised concerns that requiring accreditation by bodies such as the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE), Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC/WSCUC), or Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) would be costly and could eliminate many existing programs. Council member Kara Miyazaki warned that CODA accreditation is rigorous and expensive, and that some community colleges and smaller programs would struggle to meet the costs and administrative requirements. Representatives of the Dental Assisting Alliance and the California Dental Association said they were willing to participate in additional working‑group meetings but emphasized the need to avoid a large loss of training capacity that could worsen access to care.

Board staff proposed statutory language to treat board approval as equivalent to accreditation by a Department of Education‑recognized accreditor and to permit DANB (Dental Assisting National Board) exam results to satisfy some board course requirements; staff also proposed a delayed effective date of Jan. 1, 2029, to allow programs time to obtain accreditation. Stakeholders pointed out that DANB written exams have limited or no clinical skills components and that many programs cannot afford the initial and ongoing costs of accreditation (one stakeholder estimated initial CODA application costs around $20,000 and total costs far higher).

After discussion, council members and staff agreed to: (1) return the proposal to the working group, (2) hold additional stakeholder meetings, and (3) develop revised legislative language for the council to review at a future meeting. Board staff said they will use listserv notices to solicit stakeholder participation and aim to present refined language to the council at the August meeting, with more substantive package language expected later in the year.

The council did not adopt the staff draft as proposed; instead it directed further work by the existing two‑member working group and outreach to interested stakeholders so the council and staff can develop legislative proposals that balance education quality, consumer protection and access to the dental workforce.

Stakeholders who commented at the meeting included Melody Randolph and Sherry Becker (Dental Assisting Alliance), Tuca Zokai and Bruce Witcher (California Dental Association), and representatives of community programs; several speakers urged a careful, incremental approach to avoid program closures and loss of training capacity.

Looking ahead, the working group will continue to convene stakeholder meetings and produce alternative legislative or regulatory options for the council’s review. Board staff said the group will examine possible hybrid approaches such as expanded oversight standards, differentiated pathways, and fee or grant support for accreditation transitions.