Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of dental hygienists by the Dental Hygiene Board of California. Existing law requires the board to license as a registered dental hygienist a person who satisfies specified requirements, including completion of a prescribed education program, satisfactory completion of an examination in California law and ethics, and satisfactory performance, within the preceding 3 years, of the dental hygiene examination given by the Western Regional Examining Board or any other clinical or dental hygiene examination approved by the board.

This bill would authorize the board to license as a registered dental hygienist an applicant who has earned a degree from a nonaccredited dental school if that degree is equivalent to a doctor of dental surgery or doctor of dental medicine degree, as specified. The bill would require, as a condition of licensure, an applicant to meet certain requirements, including, among other things, submission of verification of the above-described equivalence, as specified, satisfactory completion of specified examinations, and satisfactory completion of certain coursework, including, among other things, a 2-unit Dental Practice Act course approved by the Dental Board of California, within the 3 years preceding application.