Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 50 amends one of the statutes in the Dental Practices Act that sets out those practices to which the act does not apply. One such practice is the scaling of teeth above the gum line by persons who are not licensed under the Dental Practices Act, but who have met statutory requirements and who are acting under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist. The statute currently provides that the latter exception expires on July 1, 2001. SB 50 removes the July 1, 2001 sunset.

The House Committee of the Whole amendments create a new Dental Hygienists Student Loan Act to be administered by the Board of Regents.

Pursuant to the provisions of the bill, the Board of Regents would be authorized to make loans to undergraduate students who are enrolled in or admitted to a school of dental hygiene and who enter into a student loan agreement with the Regents. Separate loans could be made for each year for which there is an agreement. In return for the loan, the student would be obligated to engage in the full-time practice of dental hygiene in a service commitment area for a period of 12 months. For the purposes of the loan program, a service commitment area is any community in a Kansas county except Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, or Shawnee; any state medical care facility or institution; any medical center operated by the Veterans Administration; or service as full-time faculty of a Kansas school of dental hygiene.

The student loan agreement under the Dental Hygienists Student Loan Act would require the recipient:

• •To complete the required course of instruction and apply for a license;
• 
  
  
• •Commence full-time practice in a service commitment area within nine months after graduation and licensure and continue in such practice for the time required under the agreement;
• 
  
  
• •Maintain records and make reports as required to document the satisfaction of obligations under the agreement; and
• 
  
  
• •In the event of failure to satisfy the terms of the agreement, repay amounts equal to the total of the amount of money received, plus accumulated interest at an annual rate of 15 percent.
• 
  
  
  
  

Other provisions concern movement from one service commitment area to another, require satisfaction of a service obligation by serving as faculty be two years for each year of service obligation, and allow the satisfaction of an obligation by the performance of at least 100 hours a month on-site at a facility operated by a local health department or nonprofit organization that serves dentally indigent.

Background

The 1999 Legislature added authorization for certain dental assistants (unlicensed persons) to scale above the gum line to the exceptions listed in the statute amended by SB 50. The authorization was controversial and for that reason a provision for automatic expiration of the authority was included in the 1999 legislation.

The President of the Kansas Dental Board, the President of the Kansas Dental Association, a dentist who practices in Ulysses, a dentist from Garden City, the President of the Kansas Dental Assistant's Association, and a licensed dental hygienist appeared in support of SB 50. Opponents included the President of the Kansas Dental Hygienists Association, the Director of Education for the American Dental Hygienist Association, the Director of Dental Hygiene Curriculum at Wichita State University, the Director of the Dental Hygiene program at Johnson County Community College, the Dean of Curriculum at Colby Community College, and a representative of the Dental Hygienists Association.

The Kansas Dental Board indicates passage of SB 50 would have no fiscal impact.

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/fulltext.cgi