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Dental Board approves revised legislative proposal on dental assisting courses, authorizes executive committee to work with stakeholders
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Summary
The Dental Board approved a staff-drafted legislative proposal to amend several Business and Professions Code sections governing dental assisting infection control and radiation safety courses and authorized the executive committee to work with the Legislature and stakeholders on final language.
The Dental Board of California voted on Feb. 7 to advance a revised legislative proposal addressing dental assisting infection control and radiation safety courses, with specific provisions to preserve electronic delivery for certain unlicensed dental assistant training and to clarify application and student-protection requirements.
Board staff said the proposed amendments respond to implementation problems following Senate Bill 1453's changes and aim to provide clearer statutory authority for course-approval fees, course director and faculty requirements, laboratory and clinical instruction standards, and consumer protections for electronically delivered courses.
Brent Nelson, the board's legislative and regulatory specialist, explained staff's updated proposal would move certain course-application fees into statute (proposed BPC section 17.25) and set them at $300 for the interim therapeutic restoration (ITR), radiation safety, and infection control course approvals. Ms. Tara Welch, board counsel, said the revisions also preserve an electronic-delivery option for the infection control course but direct that online-only delivery would apply to unlicensed dental assistants rather than to some RDA license-pathway applicants.
Welch and Nelson said the changes are intended both to protect students taking electronic courses (for example, by requiring providers to disclose minimum technology requirements and offer connectivity support) and to maintain clinical and laboratory instruction requirements where licensure candidates need hands-on training. Welch said the proposal largely mirrors material the board previously reviewed in its dental assisting education rulemaking and attempts to import consumer protections into statute to enable quicker implementation.
Multiple public commenters addressed access to courses and implementation timing. Melody Randolph of the Alliance said she favored the updated recommendation and praised the delineation that limits virtual-only training to unlicensed dental assistants. A California Dental Association representative said some employers and rural practices lack timely access to courses and urged the board to allow 90 days for new hires to complete required infection-control training. Leslie Canham, an infection-control course provider, and others urged clearer provider lists and better information for students identifying standalone versus program-only course providers.
After discussion the board approved staff's revised legislative proposal and authorized the executive committee to work with the Legislature and stakeholders to resolve any remaining concerns. The motion passed on roll call.
Board staff said they will submit the legislative proposal to the Legislature and continue stakeholder engagement and, if needed, follow up with regulatory revisions later.
