BILL NUMBER: AB 836	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Skinner

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to amend Section 1645 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to dentists.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 836, as amended, Skinner. Dentists: continuing education.
   Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure
and regulation of dentists by the Dental Board of California 
until January 1, 2016, a   t which time the board shall be
subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature  . Existing law authorizes the board to require
licentiates to complete continuing education hours as a condition of
license renewal. Existing law authorizes the board to, by regulation,
reduce the renewal fee for a licensee who has practiced dentistry
for 20 years or more in this state, has reached the age of retirement
under the federal Social Security Act, and customarily provides his
or her services free of charge to any person, organization, or
agency.
   This bill would prohibit the board from requiring  of
those licensees   a retired dentist who provides only
uncompensated care  more than 60% of the hours of continuing
education that is required of other licensed dentists.  The bill
would require the board to report on the outcome of that provision,
pursuant to, and at the time of, its regular sunset review process.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1645 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   1645.  (a) Effective with the 1974 license renewal period, if the
board determines that the public health and safety would be served by
requiring all holders of licenses under this chapter to continue
their education after receiving a license, it may require, as a
condition to the renewal thereof, that they submit assurances
satisfactory to the board that they will, during the succeeding
two-year period, inform themselves of the developments in the
practice of dentistry occurring since the original issuance of their
licenses by pursuing one or more courses of study satisfactory to the
board or by other means deemed equivalent by the board.
   The board shall adopt regulations providing for the suspension of
the licenses at the end of the two-year period until compliance with
the assurances provided for in this section is accomplished.
   (b) The board may also, as a condition of license renewal, require
licentiates to successfully complete a portion of the required
continuing education hours in specific areas adopted in regulations
by the board. The board may prescribe this mandatory coursework
within the general areas of patient care, health and safety, and law
and ethics. The mandatory coursework prescribed by the board shall
not exceed fifteen hours per renewal period for dentists, and seven
and one-half hours per renewal period for dental auxiliaries. Any
mandatory coursework required by the board shall be credited toward
the continuing education requirements established by the board
pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) For a  dentist described in subdivision (a) of Section
1716.1   retired dentist who provides only
uncompensated care  , the board shall not require more than 60
percent of the hours of continuing education that is required of
other licensed dentists. Nothing in this subdivision shall be
construed to reduce any requirements imposed by the board pursuant to
subdivision (b). 
   (d) The board shall report on the outcome of subdivision (c)
pursuant to, and at the time of, its regular sunset review process,
as provided in Section 1601.1.