Ga. Board of Dentistry; issuance of a dental or dental hygiene license for the sole purpose of teaching in an accredited dental, dental hygiene school, or academic medical center; revise provisions
Summary
HB322 revises Georgia law governing limited dental licenses issued by the Georgia Board of Dentistry for teaching and related institutional practice. The bill authorizes the board, in its discretion and without examination, to issue a teacher’s or instructor’s license to qualified dentists for the sole purpose of teaching or instructing in an accredited dental college, advanced dental education program, training clinic, or academic medical center in Georgia. It also preserves a separate pathway for temporary licenses for dentists practicing public health dentistry or providing services in state-operated eleemosynary or correctional institutions.
The bill sets out detailed eligibility requirements for the teaching/instructor license, including prior licensure in another jurisdiction, a job offer and recommendation from the teaching institution, accreditation standards for the affiliated school or medical center, no prior failure of the Georgia dental licensure exam, no prior license revocation, current CPR certification, and passage of a Georgia jurisprudence exam. It also clarifies that the licensee may practice only within the scope of the teaching or affiliated program, and it continues to require criminal background checks and board-established fees for these limited licenses.
Impact
HB322 amends Code Section 43-11-42 in Title 43, Chapter 11, which governs dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants. The bill narrows and clarifies the Board of Dentistry’s authority to issue limited-purpose licenses for educators and public health dentists, while adding explicit credentialing, employment, and background-check requirements. It affects dentists seeking academic or institutional appointments, accredited dental schools and academic medical centers, and the Board’s licensing and rulemaking practices.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House unanimously 169-0 and the Senate unanimously 52-0, indicating strong bipartisan agreement. The available record contains no committee transcript debate, suggesting the measure was viewed as a technical or administrative licensing update rather than a contested policy change.
Contention
No significant opposition is reflected in the voting record or available discussion. The main policy choices in the bill concern how strictly to define eligibility for a teaching or instructor license, including accreditation requirements, proof of employment, prior licensure history, and mandatory jurisprudence and background checks. Any potential contention would likely center on whether these requirements are sufficiently flexible to recruit qualified dental educators while maintaining professional standards, but no explicit disagreement is documented.