Pennsylvania laws surrounding dental school faculty are outdated and restrictive. The Commonwealth’s three dental schools – Pitt, Penn and Temple – produce the majority of Pennsylvania dentists, yet they’re at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting faculty members.  Current law limits where and for how long faculty from another state or another country – often brought in for mastery of a technique or procedure – can practice or demonstrate their skills.

That’s why I will soon introduce companion legislation to Senate Bill 842 to expand where a dentist with a restricted faculty license may practice to include clinical facilities owned and operated by a dental school or an affiliated nonprofit academic health care center. This bill will also allow those licensees to practice for continuing education purposes for up to one year without a Pennsylvania license. 

Neighboring states, including New York, Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio, already let dental faculty practice in clinics that are connected to their dental schools, not just in the main dental school campus building. These changes give dental schools more flexibility to hire experienced faculty by letting them teach and practice in a wider range of clinical settings tied to the school.

Allowing dental faculty to practice in more physical locations helps them continue to keep up and refine their skills, while also improving access to care for patients who use the dental school-affiliated clinics and facilities.

Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to ease dental faculty recruitment and improve access to dental services for Pennsylvanians.