Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, establishes the Dental Board of California to license and regulate the practice of dentistry, including the licensure and regulation of dental auxiliaries, including, among others, dental assistants, as defined, and sets forth duties and functions that those dental auxiliaries are authorized to perform. Existing law authorizes the board to review and evaluate all applications for licensure in all dental assisting categories to ascertain whether a candidate meets the appropriate licensing requirements specified by statute and board regulation. Existing law establishes the Dental Assisting Council within the Dental Board of California and requires the council to consider all matters relating to dental assistants in the state, as specified, and to make appropriate recommendations to the board and the standing committees of the board in specified areas, including standards and criteria for approval of dental assisting educational programs, courses, and continuing education. Existing law requires the board to approve, modify, or reject recommendations by the council within 120 days of submission to the board during full board business.
Existing law requires that fees relating to the licensing and permitting of dental assistants be established by regulation, subject to certain limitations prescribed by statute.
This bill would require that the fee for review of each approval application or reevaluation for a course for instruction in interim therapeutic restoration and radiographic decisionmaking, radiation safety, or infection control that is not accredited by a board-approved agency or the Chancellor's office of the California Community Colleges not exceed $300, and would make conforming changes.
Existing law provides that the employer of a dental assistant is responsible for ensuring that the dental assistant has successfully completed a board-approved 8-hour course in infection control prior to performing any basic supportive dental procedures involving potential exposure to blood, saliva, or other potentially infectious material.
This bill would, instead, provide that the employer is responsible for ensuring that the dental assistant has successfully completed the course within 90 days from the date of first employment with the employer. The bill would also expand the courses that a dental assistant may take to comply with this requirement to include a course provided by a board-approved registered dental assisting education program, and a course with 6 hours of didactic instruction and at least 2 hours of laboratory instruction using video or a series of video training tools, as specified.
Existing law requires an unregistered dental assistant not enrolled in a board-approved program for registered dental assisting or an alternative dental assisting program, as specified, to complete a certification course in infection control, as specified. Existing law requires a certification course in infection control to meet minimum requirements related to duration, including having at least 6 hours of didactic instruction and 2 hours of laboratory instruction, as prescribed. Existing law requires that, upon successful completion of the course, students receive a certificate of completion, as defined.
This bill would delete the above-described requirement for unregistered dental assistants not enrolled in a board-approved program for registered dental assisting or an alternative dental assisting program. The bill would also provide that for certain infection control courses, a provider shall submit an application on a form furnished by the board for board approval to offer the course, the above-described fee, and certain documentation related to course identification and course structure, including written laboratory protocols that comply with certain regulations, as specified. The bill would require the course director to, among other things, actively participate in, and be responsible for, the administration of the course, as specified. The bill would require the course provider to, among other things, notify prospective students of the computer or communications technology necessary to participate in didactic and laboratory instruction.
This bill would authorize the board or its designees to approve, provisionally approve, or deny approval of a course in infection control after evaluating all of its components. The bill would limit provisional approval to a course that substantially complies with all existing standards for full approval and would make that provisional approval expire one year after provisional approval or upon subsequent approval or denial, whichever occurs first. The bill would require a board-approved course to be reevaluated every 7 years, as specified, and would authorize the board to withdraw approval at any time if it determines the course does not meet specified requirements. The bill would impose various requirements on certain courses in infection control, including that the course provide technological assistance to students, as needed, to participate in didactic and laboratory instruction.
This bill would require the certificate of completion to state the statutory authority used to approve the course, as specified. The bill would prohibit certain courses from satisfying the infection control course requirement for licensure as a registered dental assistant or obtaining an orthodontic assistant permit or a dental sedation assistant permit. The bill would require course records to be available for inspection by the board at any time.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Statutes affected:
AB 873: 1750 BPC, 1755 BPC
02/19/25 - Introduced: 1750 BPC, 1755 BPC
04/09/25 - Amended Assembly: 1725 BPC, 1725 BPC, 1750 BPC, 1755 BPC, 1755 BPC, 1755 BPC