Dental Assistant Alliance tells board SB 1311 risks patient safety by eliminating hands-on training

A representative of the Dental Assistant Alliance told the Dental Assisting Council that the Alliance opposes SB 1311 unless it is significantly amended, raising patient-safety concerns about proposed infection-control certification pathways.

"This bill would create multiple pathways to infection control certification that are not aligned or consistent with one another," the Alliance representative said, and warned that one proposed pathway would eliminate education and hands‑on training requirements and allow certification based solely on a written exam. The speaker added, "successfully passing a written test alone does not demonstrate that an individual can competently and safely perform critical infection control procedures in a clinical setting."

The Alliance also reminded the Council that the practical portion of the RDA examination was eliminated in 2018 because of concerns with inconsistency across testing locations, and argued that removing hands‑on components now would reintroduce competency concerns. The speaker urged the board to change its position and oppose SB 1311 "unless amended." Board members did not take a formal vote on the bill at the meeting; staff reiterated that legislative items were being tracked and that the Council's earlier recommendations had been submitted to the board and Legislature for consideration.