Sunset Dental Practice Act

Sunset Process - Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The bill makes changes to the "Dental Practice Act" (act) by:

• Continuing the act for 9 years, until 2034;
• Updating and adding definitions;
• Changing the makeup of the Colorado dental board (board);
• Requiring the attorney general, in addition to counseling the board, to counsel and advise the board's consultants;
• Adding and updating the grounds for which the board may take disciplinary action against an applicant for licensure or a licensee;
• Allowing a licensee's submission to a mental or physical examination to satisfy the requirement to notify the board of a condition that would impair the licensee's ability to practice;
• Adding as exemptions to the act the volunteer practice of dentistry and dental hygiene under specific conditions;
• Repealing the exceptions that allow a dental therapist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant to perform certain dentistry practices and including additional tasks to the list of items included in the practice of dentistry;
• Clarifying that a dental assistant, dental hygienist, and dental therapist may perform tasks consistent with rules adopted by the board;
• Requiring providers who perform itinerant surgery to develop and maintain protocols for emergency follow-up care;
• Authorizing licensed dentists to prescribe orders electronically;
• Requiring a peer health assistance program selected as a designated provider for the dentist peer health assistance program to provide training and calibration to dentists who practice monitoring services;
• Authorizing dentists to self-refer to participate in a peer health assistance program or be referred by the board;
• Requiring an applicant for dental, dental hygienist, or dental therapy licensure to pass a jurisprudence examination that tests the applicant's knowledge of the act;
• Removing a requirement that dental education schools and programs must be accredited or approved by a specific entity;
• Requiring the board to adopt rules that allow for expedited, temporary licensure during a public health emergency;
• Repealing specific tasks that are currently authorized to be performed by a dental therapist;
• Updating procedures for the construction of dental devices by an unlicensed technician;
• Updating the list of practices that are considered to be the practice of unsupervised dental hygiene;
• Repealing the specific dosages of certain drugs that a dental hygienist may prescribe;
• Authorizing the board to adopt rules that identify safe prescribing alternatives to silver diamine fluoride as a treatment for strengthening teeth and preventing tooth decay;
• Identifying tasks that are deemed to be practicing supervised dental hygiene;
• Requiring a dental hygienist performing an interim therapeutic restoration to confirm a referral for follow-up care with a dentist;
• Limiting the number of dental hygienists that a dentist may supervise; and
• Authorizing a dental therapist to perform specific tasks.
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)