Update on HB197

On September 26th, the Alaska Board of Dental Examiners (BoDE) had a meeting. We had several members of our Legislative Committee present at the meeting and Gail Walden and Lisa Wells were able to testify and stress the importance of keeping language in our state statutes that requires a minimum education level for dental hygiene licensure. The Board (unanimously!) passed a motion to support our proposal: that is, they will contact HB197's sponsor, Representative Tomaszewski, and recommend an amendment to HB197. Instead of removing the educational requirement "of at least two years duration," the amendment will read, "with curriculum that includes at least two academic years of full-time instruction or its equivalent." This will allow for efficient approval of licensees who attended accelerated Dental Hygiene programs, while also recognizing that the state needs to continue to maintain rigorous educational standards. You can read a copy of Gail's letter to the BoDE here.