Attorney General: dental disciplinary referrals rose; board enforcement sees modest backlog progress

Senior Assistant Attorney General Carl Sani presented the Department of Justice licensing section's annual report to the Dental Board of California on Friday, saying referrals from the board increased from 95 to 141 in the last fiscal year.

"This past fiscal year, we saw a significant increase, up to a 141," Sani told the board, framing the rise as evidence of active investigations and referrals. He said the licensing section uses a ProLAW case-management system and audits its data semiannually to track intervals that legislators asked the office to report on.

Sani highlighted several timing metrics the office tracks: the interval from referral to accusation filing (about 76—77 days in recent years), time-to-settlement (improved from about 289 days two years ago), and the combined intervals that average roughly 263—268 days from filing to hearing commencement in the datasets he reviewed. He cautioned, however, that measuring combined intervals mixes different case types and that settlement activity can remove cases from the hearing schedule.

Enforcement Chief Ryan Bloemian told the board the enforcement program has prioritized clearing unlicensed-practice investigations and recovering investigative costs. "The board ordered $421,677 in cost recovery related to our disciplinary cases," he said, adding, "Of that, we've collected $385,607." Bloemian said recent field activity in Southern California has cut the number of unassigned unlicensed-practice cases roughly in half and that hiring the last vacant sworn investigator this week will further accelerate case movement.

Board members pressed on comparisons and case age. Member Robert David asked how the board's settlement interval compared with other licensing boards; Sani said direct apples-to-apples comparisons are difficult because agencies and case types differ. Several members raised concern that about 23% of investigative cases remain open two to three years; Bloemian said staffing increases and targeted assignments are the primary tools to reduce that aging.

Both presenters stressed a balance between speed and due process: Sani noted the department's goal of resolving cases within 18 months while allowing respondents the chance to review evidence and retain counsel. Bloemian outlined the intake, expert review, investigation, and hearing-preparation steps and said social-media complaints still require manual review.

The board took no formal regulatory action on the report; it received the presentation and discussed staffing and case-processing priorities. The board directed staff to continue monitoring case-aging and enforcement outcomes and to report further progress at future meetings.