126th General Assembly
(S. Health, Human Services & Aging)
Expressly prohibits a person from practicing as an expanded function dental auxiliary (EFDA) without being registered with the State Dental Board, to correspond with the penalties for unregistered practice included in the House-passed version of the bill.
Requires the Board to adopt rules specifying standards for acceptance of EFDA competency examinations that are administered by other entities, including a requirement that admission to the examinations be limited to the persons specified in the House-passed version as the persons with dental training who are eligible to become EFDAs.
Eliminates provisions of the House-passed version that permitted the Board to take disciplinary actions against an EFDA, but retains provisions permitting the Board to discipline an EFDA's supervising dentist or dental facility manager relative to an EFDA's improper practice.
Eliminates provisions of the House-passed version that included EFDAs within existing laws pertaining to the following: (1) immunity from civil liability for providing free care to indigent and uninsured patients, (2) issuance of volunteer's certificates to retired EFDAs, (3) participation in the Board's Quality Intervention Program, (4) required treatment for substance abuse, (5) the Board's authority to ask for injunctions to be sought against unauthorized dental practice, (6) requirements for reporting to licensing boards any person convicted of a drug offense, (7) purchase of liability insurance by boards of health, and (8) requirements for making reports of abuse or neglect of long-term care facility residents.
Eliminates the House-passed version's prohibition against having the same dental specialty represented by a Board member for two or more consecutive terms, and instead requires the Governor, when filling a specialist dentist vacancy on the Board, to make all reasonable efforts to fill the vacancy with a specialist who represents a specialty that is different from the one represented by the vacating member.
Requires an applicant for certification as a dental x-ray machine operator to meet only one, rather than at least one, of the certification requirements specified in the House-passed version of the bill: (1) certification as a dental assistant, (2) licensure by another state, or (3) completion of an educational program in dental x-ray machine operation consisting of at least seven hours of instruction.
H0143-126.doc/ss 01/17/06