State Board of Dental Examiners - Disciplinary Action and Unannounced Inspections
HB373 expands the authority of the State Board of Dental Examiners in two main ways. First, it allows the Board to conduct unannounced inspections of certain dental offices, based on a written and signed complaint or a referral from the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, to check compliance with CDC infection-control guidance. The bill updates the inspection standard from “universal precautions” to “standard precautions” and expressly incorporates the CDC’s infection-control guidelines for dental health-care settings.
Second, the bill broadens and clarifies disciplinary authority over dentists, dental hygienists, and expanded function dental assistants. It revises existing grounds for discipline related to infection control and adds a new ground allowing discipline when a dentist employs, supervises, or uses an individual as an expanded function dental assistant who is not certified by the Board. It also creates a new disciplinary subsection for certified expanded function dental assistants and applicants, listing a wide range of conduct that can lead to denial, reprimand, probation, suspension, or revocation, including incompetence, fraud, rule violations, criminal convictions, substance impairment, sexual misconduct, and failure to cooperate with investigations.
The bill amends provisions of the Health Occupations Article governing the State Board of Dental Examiners, specifically §§ 4-205 and 4-315. It strengthens enforcement tools for infection-control compliance, expands the Board’s inspection powers, and adds explicit disciplinary coverage for expanded function dental assistants and applicants. The measure affects dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental offices, and applicants for licensure or certification, and it takes effect October 1, 2026.
The available legislative record suggests strong support for the bill. The House committee report was favorable, the House adopted the bill, and the third reading vote passed unanimously, 131-0. No committee transcript or recorded floor debate is provided, but the voting history indicates broad agreement with the bill’s public-health and professional-regulation goals.
No major opposition is evident in the provided materials. The most notable policy issue is the expansion of Board enforcement authority, including unannounced inspections and new disciplinary grounds tied to infection control and the use of uncertified expanded function dental assistants. Those provisions could raise concerns among dental professionals about oversight, workplace inspections, and the scope of disciplinary discretion, but no specific objections are documented in the record provided.