Dental Practice Act: foreign dental schools.

Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of dentists by the Dental Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to meet specified requirements, including, among others, furnishing satisfactory evidence of having graduated from a dental college approved by the board or by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association (CODA) . Prior law provided for the approval of foreign dental schools by the board. Beginning January 1, 2024, existing law requires foreign dental schools seeking approval by the board to complete the international consultative and accreditation process with CODA or a comparable accrediting body approved by the board. Notwithstanding that requirement, existing law maintained the approval of any foreign dental schools whose program was renewed by the board prior to January 1, 2020, through any date between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2026, through that renewal date. This bill would, instead, maintain the approval of a foreign dental school whose program was approved by the board prior to January 1, 2020, if that school applied for accreditation by an accrediting body, or CODA, on or before January 31, 2026, while that accreditation process is ongoing, as specified. The bill would require the foreign dental school to, commencing with January 1, 2027, and every 6 months thereafter, provide an update to the board on the status of the foreign dental school's accreditation application. The bill would authorize the board to terminate the maintained approval of a foreign dental school for failure to submit that update, as specified. Existing law makes a graduate of a foreign dental school whose program was approved by the board prior to January 1, 2020, through any date before January 1, 2024, who enrolled in the program prior to January 1, 2020, eligible for licensure, as specified. This bill would, instead, deem a graduate of a foreign dental school that was approved at the time of the graduate's enrollment to have graduated from an approved dental school for purposes of the act, regardless of whether the foreign dental school's approval expired before the graduate's graduation. The bill would make a graduate of a foreign dental school with maintained approval pursuant to the bill's provisions who enrolled in the school on or after July 1, 2026, eligible for licensure under the act. The bill would make related conforming changes and would make findings and declarations related to the history of, and need for, foreign dental schools.