Brief(1)
H.B. 2254 amends two of the statutes in the Dental Practices Act under which dentists and dental hygienists are licensed and regulated. The amendments concern dental hygienists. The bill adds language authorizing the Kansas Dental Board to allow an applicant for a license as a dental hygienist who is returning to active practice after retirement or a period of disability, as an alternate to having to take an examination, to successfully complete a refresher course in an approved dental hygiene school. The second amendment requires the Board to accept clinical board results for graduates of approved dental hygiene schools from nationally recognized regional dental hygiene testing agencies and from individual state dental hygiene licensing authorities in lieu of an examination given or approved by the Board.
Background
H.B. 2254 was introduced at the request of an individual legislator to carry out one of the recommendations of the study mandated by the 1998 Legislature as a part of 1998 H.B. 2724. The bill was supported during House Committee hearings by the Dental Hygienists Association, the Kansas Dental Association, and a representative of the Dental School in Kansas City. The Committee amendment was suggested by the Kansas Dental Hygienists Association.
The fiscal note on H.B. 2254 states the provisions of the bill can be implemented within current resources.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.