State Board of Dentistry
Meeting Summary
January 23, 2015
Report from Board Counsel
Governor Tom Wolf signed an executive order revising the code of conduct for state employees
and licensing board members. This includes a ban on accepting gifts.
Status of Regulations
o Teeth Whitening policy statement: Ms. Montgomery reported that though the
Governor’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) and the Budget and Policy Office had
reviewed the board’s draft policy statement defining teeth whitening services as the
practice of dentistry, they are waiting for the Federal Trade Commission’s case against
the North Carolina Dental Board to settle. She believes the case will settle in midFebruary or early March. Once that occurs, Ms. Montgomery will resubmit the policy
statement for the new Administration’s review.
o Anesthesia permit holder regulations: Ms. Montgomery is making the
committee’s final revisions to the regulations for anesthesia permit holders. She will
submit them for the board’s review as its March meeting. If approved by the board, the
regulations will be published as proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
o Botox/Dermal Fillers policy statement: The board voted in approval of its draft
policy statement regulating the practice of dentists administering botox and dermal
fillers. It must be reviewed by OGC, Budget and Policy, and upon approval will be
published in the Bulletin and codified in the “green book”.
o Child Abuse regulations: Ms. Montgomery is working with other licensing board
attorneys to draft regulations that will reflect the mandates in Act 31, a new law
requiring licensure applicants and current licenses to obtain continuing education
credits in child abuse biennially. This new requirement will be added to the existing
section in the regulations pertaining to continuing education.
o General regulatory revisions: The regulatory package making minor updates to
existing regulations regarding the licensure process will be published as proposed
rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
o Mobile dental van regulations: The regulations are considered low priority for now
until Ms. Montgomery completes regulations pertaining to the enactment of statutory
requirements by their effective dates.
o Civil penalty schedule regulations: Ms. Montgomery sent letters to stakeholders
requesting feedback on the board’s proposal to increase civil penalties for licensees.
Stakeholders will have 30 days to submit comments.
o Restricted faculty license regulations: Ms. Montgomery has almost completed
regulations regarding the mandates in Act 89 of 2014, but she noted that the legislation
can pretty much “stand on its own” and that it has already been implemented without
the board having to pass regulations. She will present draft regulations at the March
meeting.
Report from Board Chair
Dr. Erhard reported that he attended the Northeast Regional Board’s (NERB) annual meeting
with Ms. Mariellen Brickley-Raab, RDH, and Dr. Lisa Deem. He noted that NERB is now called
the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments (CDCA). He stated that the trend
continues toward adopting a national licensure examination and that CDCA is also developing
ethics and state-specific law examinations. CDCA identified corporate dentists and teledentistry
as two emerging issues that need addressed.
Committee Reports
o EFDA Committee: The committee plans to revisit the issue of requiring EFDAs to pass
a clinical examination to become certified. Historically, the regulations had included a
requirement for clinical examinations, but they were amended when it was found that
implementing a statewide examination for a small pool of applicants was cost
prohibitive. Requiring EFDAs to take a clinical examination would necessitate a
regulatory change.
o Licensure Committee: No report
o Newsletter: No report
o Probable Cause Screening Committee: No report
o Legislative/Regulatory Review Committee: No report
o Practice Ownership Committee: Dr. DeFinnis is monitoring developments
regarding corporate dentistry and ownership of dental offices and records.
o Scope of Practice Committee: Dr. Datillo commented that the committee plans to
review the draft anesthesia regulations one final time.
Next meeting date: March 20, 2015