2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 8 - The Professions › Article 133 - Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, and Registered Dental Assisting › 6604-A - Mandatory Continuing Education for Dentists.

§  6604-a.  Mandatory  continuing  education for dentists. 1. (a) Each
dentist,  licensed  pursuant  to  this  article,  required  to  register
triennially  with  the department to practice in this state shall comply
with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education  requirements,
except  as  set  forth  in  paragraphs  (b) and (c) of this subdivision.
Dentists  who  do  not  satisfy  the  mandatory   continuing   education
requirements  shall  not  practice until they have met such requirements
and  have  been  issued  a  registration  or  conditional   registration
certificate.
(b)  Dentists  shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education
requirement for the triennial registration period during which they  are
first   licensed.  In  accordance  with  the  intent  of  this  section,
adjustments to the mandatory continuing  education  requirement  may  be
granted  by  the  department  for  reasons  of  health,  certified  by a
physician, for extended active duty with the armed forces of the  United
States,  or  for other good cause acceptable to the department which may
prevent compliance.
(c) A licensed dentist not engaged in public practice as an individual
practitioner,  a  partner  of  a  partnership,  a   shareholder   of   a
professional service corporation, or an employee of such practice units,
shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement upon
the filing of a statement with the department declaring such status. Any
licensee  who  returns  to  the  public practice of dentistry during the
triennial registration period  shall  notify  the  department  prior  to
reentering  the  profession  and  shall  meet  such mandatory continuing
education requirements as shall  be  prescribed  by  regulation  of  the
commissioner.
2.   During  each  triennial  registration  period  an  applicant  for
registration shall complete a  minimum  of  sixty  hours  of  acceptable
formal continuing education, a maximum of eighteen hours of which may be
self-instructional  coursework  as approved by the department. Beginning
with the first registration renewal period for any dentist occurring  on
or  after  January first, two thousand two, and before the occurrence of
the second registration renewal period following that  date,  a  dentist
shall  have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the sixty hours of
acceptable formal continuing education  required  by  this  section,  no
fewer  than  two hours of coursework and training regarding the chemical
and related effects and usage of tobacco and tobacco  products  and  the
recognition,  diagnosis,  and  treatment  of  the  oral  health effects,
including but not limited to  cancers  and  other  diseases,  caused  by
tobacco  and  tobacco  products,  provided that any dentist who provides
written proof satisfactory  to  the  department  that  the  dentist  has
completed, at any time subsequent to the effective date of this section,
an  approved  mandatory continuing education course of not less than two
hours in the same or  substantially  similar  subject  matter  shall  be
deemed  to have met this requirement, and further provided that dentists
who are exempt from the mandatory continuing education  requirement  for
the  triennial  registration period during which they are first licensed
shall also be exempt from this requirement for that period. Any  dentist
whose  first  registration  date  following  the  effective date of this
section occurs less than three years from such effective date, but on or
after January first,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-eight  and  before  July
first,  two thousand eight, shall complete continuing education hours on
a prorated basis at the rate of one and one-quarter hours per month  for
the  period beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven up to
the first registration date  thereafter.  For  any  registration  period
beginning  before  July first, two thousand eight and ending on or after
such date, each dentist shall complete continuing education hours  on  a

pro  rata basis at a rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for the
period ending June thirtieth, two thousand eight and at a  rate  of  one
and  two-thirds hours per month for the period beginning July first, two
thousand  eight up to the first registration date thereafter. A licensee
who has not satisfied the mandatory  continuing  education  requirements
shall  not  be  issued  a  triennial  registration  certificate  by  the
department and  shall  not  practice  unless  and  until  a  conditional
registration  certificate  is issued as provided in subdivision three of
this section. The individual licensee shall determine the  selection  of
courses  or  programs  of  study  pursuant  to  subdivision four of this
section.
3.  The  department,  in  its  discretion,  may  issue  a  conditional
registration  to  a  licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two  of  this  section  but  who
agrees  to  make  up  any deficiencies and take any additional education
which the department  may  require.  The  fee  for  such  a  conditional
registration  shall  be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the
triennial registration. The duration of  such  conditional  registration
shall  be  determined by the department. Any licensee who is notified of
the denial of registration for failure to submit evidence,  satisfactory
to  the  department,  of completion of required continuing education and
who practices dentistry without such registration,  may  be  subject  to
disciplinary  proceedings  pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of
this title.
4. As used in this section, "acceptable formal  continuing  education"
shall  mean formal programs of learning which contribute to professional
practice and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations  of  the
commissioner. To fulfill the mandatory continuing education requirement,
programs  must  be  taken  from  sponsors  having at least one full-time
employee and the  facilities,  equipment,  and  financial  and  physical
resources  to  provide  continuing  education  courses,  approved by the
department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.
5. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
shall  be  payable  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  each  triennial
registration  period,  and  shall  be  paid in addition to the triennial
registration fee required by section six thousand six  hundred  four  of
this article.
6.  On  or  after the effective date of this subdivision, and no later
than the end of the first registration period  commencing  on  or  after
such  date  during  which  he  or  she  is  required  to comply with the
continuing education requirements of this section,  each  dentist  shall
have  completed  on  a one-time basis, as part of the mandatory hours of
acceptable formal continuing education  required  by  this  section,  no
fewer  than three hours in a course approved by the department in dental
jurisprudence  and  ethics,  which  shall  include  the   laws,   rules,
regulations and ethical principles relating to the practice of dentistry
in  New  York state, provided that postgraduate dental students enrolled
in New York state dental residency programs may satisfy the requirements
of this subdivision by taking such an approved course during the  period
of their dental residency prior to their initial licensure.