Bill Text: FL S0926 | 2022 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Licensure Examinations for Dental Practitioners

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2022-04-08 - Chapter No. 2022-32 [S0926 Detail]

Download: Florida-2022-S0926-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2022                              CS for SB 926
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Albritton
       
       
       
       
       
       588-01991-22                                           2022926c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to licensure examinations for dental
    3         practitioners; amending s. 466.006, F.S.; revising
    4         licensure examination requirements for dentists to
    5         require applicants to demonstrate certain clinical
    6         skills on a manikin rather than a live patient;
    7         amending s. 466.0065, F.S.; revising requirements for
    8         regional licensure examinations offered by dental
    9         schools to dental students; amending s. 466.007, F.S.;
   10         revising licensure examination requirements for dental
   11         hygienists to require applicants to demonstrate
   12         certain clinical skills on a manikin rather than a
   13         live patient; repealing s. 466.0075, F.S.; deleting a
   14         requirement that applicants for dental practitioner
   15         licensure examinations maintain medical malpractice
   16         insurance to cover any incident of harm to a patient
   17         during the clinical examination; providing an
   18         effective date.
   19          
   20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   21  
   22         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
   23  466.006, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   24         466.006 Examination of dentists.—
   25         (5)(a) The practical examination required under subsection
   26  (4) is shall be the American Dental Licensing Examination
   27  developed by the American Board of Dental Examiners, Inc., or
   28  its successor entity, if any, provided the board finds that the
   29  successor entity’s clinical examination complies with the
   30  provisions of this section, and must shall include, at a
   31  minimum:
   32         1. A comprehensive diagnostic skills examination covering
   33  the full scope of dentistry and an examination on applied
   34  clinical diagnosis and treatment planning in dentistry for
   35  dental candidates;
   36         2. Two restorations on a manikin that has typodont teeth
   37  with simulated caries as approved by the Commission on Dental
   38  Competency Assessments live patient or patients. The board by
   39  rule shall determine the class of such restorations;
   40         3. A demonstration of periodontal skills on a manikin that
   41  has typodont teeth with simulated calculus as approved by the
   42  Commission on Dental Competency Assessments live patient;
   43         4. A demonstration of prosthetics and restorative skills in
   44  complete and partial dentures and crowns and bridges and the
   45  utilization of practical methods of evaluation, specifically
   46  including the evaluation by the candidate of completed
   47  laboratory products such as, but not limited to, crowns and
   48  inlays filled to prepared model teeth;
   49         5. A demonstration of restorative skills on a manikin
   50  mannequin which requires the candidate to complete procedures
   51  performed in preparation for a cast restoration;
   52         6. A demonstration of endodontic skills; and
   53         7. A diagnostic skills examination demonstrating ability to
   54  diagnose conditions within the human oral cavity and its
   55  adjacent tissues and structures from photographs, slides,
   56  radiographs, or models pursuant to rules of the board. If an
   57  applicant fails to pass the diagnostic skills examination in
   58  three attempts, the applicant is shall not be eligible for
   59  reexamination unless she or he completes additional educational
   60  requirements established by the board.
   61  
   62  The department shall require a mandatory standardization
   63  exercise for all examiners prior to each practical or clinical
   64  examination and shall retain for employment only those dentists
   65  who have substantially adhered to the standard of grading
   66  established at such exercise.
   67         Section 2. Paragraphs (c), (e), and (j) of subsection (2)
   68  of section 466.0065, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   69         466.0065 Regional licensure examinations.—
   70         (2) Each school of dentistry in this state which is
   71  accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American
   72  Dental Association or its successor agency may, upon written
   73  approval by the Board of Dentistry, offer regional licensure
   74  examinations only to dental students in the final year of a
   75  program at an approved dental school, if the board has approved
   76  the hosting school’s written plan to comply with the following
   77  conditions:
   78         (c) The student must possess medical malpractice insurance
   79  in amounts not less than the amounts required to take the
   80  Florida licensure examinations.
   81         (e) Adequate arrangements, as defined by the regional
   82  examination body and as otherwise required by law, must be made,
   83  when necessary, for patients who require followup care as a
   84  result of procedures performed during the clinical portion of
   85  the regional examination. The regional examination body must
   86  inform patients in writing of their right to followup care in
   87  advance of any procedures performed by a student.
   88         (j) The student’s academic record must not include any
   89  evidence suggesting that the student poses an unreasonable risk
   90  to any live patients who are required for the clinical portion
   91  of the regional examination. In order to protect the health and
   92  safety of the public, the dental school may request additional
   93  information and documents pertaining to the candidate’s mental
   94  and physical health in order to fully assess the candidate’s
   95  fitness to engage in exercises involving a live patient.
   96         Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section
   97  466.007, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   98         466.007 Examination of dental hygienists.—
   99         (4) Effective July 1, 2012, to be licensed as a dental
  100  hygienist in this state, an applicant must successfully complete
  101  the following:
  102         (b) A practical or clinical examination approved by the
  103  board. The examination shall be the Dental Hygiene Examination
  104  produced by the American Board of Dental Examiners, Inc., (ADEX)
  105  or its successor entity, if any, if the board finds that the
  106  successor entity’s clinical examination meets or exceeds the
  107  provisions of this section. The board shall approve the ADEX
  108  Dental Hygiene Examination if the board has attained and
  109  continues to maintain representation on the ADEX House of
  110  Representatives, the ADEX Dental Hygiene Examination Development
  111  Committee, and such other ADEX Dental Hygiene committees as the
  112  board deems appropriate through rulemaking to ensure that the
  113  standards established in this section are maintained
  114  organizationally. The ADEX Dental Hygiene Examination or the
  115  examination produced by its successor entity is a comprehensive
  116  examination in which an applicant must demonstrate skills within
  117  the dental hygiene scope of practice on a manikin that has
  118  typodont teeth with simulated caries and calculus as approved by
  119  the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments live patient and
  120  any other components that the board deems necessary for the
  121  applicant to successfully demonstrate competency for the purpose
  122  of licensure.
  123         Section 4. Section 466.0075, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
  124         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.