Meeting of the Dental Board of California

May 12-13, 2022

The Dental Board of California met in Garden Grove, CA, May 12- 13, 2022. The following report summarizes actions and issues coming before the Board pertinent to pediatric oral health and practice delivery.

UPDATE REGARDING BOARD IMPLEMENTATION OF SB 501
Current law requires unlicensed dental assistants in California to complete a Board-approved course in infection control no later than 120 days after employment. In April of this year, the Dental Board’s Dental Assistant Council recommended statute be amended to require the eight-hour course in infection control be successful completed prior to performing any basic supportive dental procedures involving potential exposure to blood, saliva, or other potentially infectious materials. The intent of the proposal would be to increase patient protections in a post-COVID-19 world. The Board agreed and voted to seek legislation that would place such change in the Dental Practice Act.

Comment: Delay in the Board’s ability to implement the licensing and permitting provisions of SB 501 has created an accrediting “gap” for new providers as well impacting renewals. Pediatric dental postdoctoral residents completing training this spring are particularly affected by this bureaucratic obstruction, which threatens their ability to obtain professional positions requiring the moderate or minimal sedation permits. With the resolution now expected in June, entry into our specialty will be eased.  

LEGISLATION TO EXTEND PROVISIONS OF SB 501
Earlier this year, with the implementation of SB 501 (2018) and the Board’s ability to issue and renew sedation permits suspended, Senator Patricia Bates agreed to amend SB 652, which as introduced and as sponsored by the California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, would have extended SB 501’s pediatric provisions to adult patients. Instead, the bill would now remedy the implementation and permitting gap, establish maximum fee limits for pediatric endorsement applications and renewals, renumber sections of the Dental Practice Act to accommodate these changes, and establish permit expiration dates for the pediatric endorsements matching permit and license expiration dates.

Comment: While the implementation and permitting problem may now be solved without legislation, the other provisions still require legislation action. As of the date of this meeting (May 12-13), SB 652 still awaits amendment.

COURSES ACCEPTABLE IN LIEU OF PEDIATRIC ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT (PALS)

SB 501, among its provisions, gives the Board the authority to approve for permitting purposes a training standard in lieu of Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), if that training is equivalent or higher than PALS for pediatric dental anesthesia-related emergencies and includes instruction in pediatric life support and airway management. Two years ago, Board staff began working with subject matter experts and legal counsel to develop regulations which would allow this change. The Board, however, has determined it will not introduce alternate training standards, concluding that PALS instruction is evaluated and updated on a continual basis and for the Board to have to continually assess and determine if an alternative course meets an updated PALS standard would create an undue burden.
The Board, therefore, has chosen to accept PALS certification as provided by the American Red Cross (ARC), the American Heart Association (AHA), or the American Safety and Health Institute (ASHI), as required for issuance and renewal of the pediatric sedation permit pediatric endorsements and the pediatric minimal sedation permit.

Comment: CSPD continues to advocate that for patients 13-18 years of age, it should be necessary that only one person in the room need be certified in ACLS, if a second person holds either certification in ACLS or PALS.

Respectfully Submitted,
Paul Reggiardo, DDS