2025 -- H 6240

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LC002584

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS-DENTISTS AND DENTAL

HYGIENISTS

     Introduced By: Representatives Cruz, Potter, Sanchez, Giraldo, Alzate, Stewart, Morales,
Batista, Furtado, and Felix

     Date Introduced: April 17, 2025

     Referred To: House Corporations

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 5-31.1-22 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-31.1 entitled "Dentists

and Dental Hygienists" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     5-31.1-22. Limited registrations Limited registrations of dentists.

     (a)(1) An applicant for limited registration under this chapter who furnishes the board with

satisfactory proof that the applicant is eighteen (18) years of age or older and of good moral

character, that the applicant has graduated from a dental school accredited by the American Dental

Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its designated agency and approved by the

board, and or that they have been employed as a member of the faculty of a school of dentistry

accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, or its

designated agency or that the applicant has been appointed an intern, resident, fellow, or dental

officer in a hospital or other institution maintained by the state, or by a city or town, or in a hospital

or clinic that is incorporated under the laws of this state or in a clinic that is affiliated with a hospital

licensed by the department of health, or in an outpatient clinic operated by the state, may, upon the

payment as set forth in § 23-1-54, be registered by the board as a hospital dental officer for any

time that the board prescribes; but that limited registration entitles the applicant to practice dentistry

in the hospital or other institution designated on his or her certificate of limited registration, or

outside that hospital or other institution for the treatment, under the supervision of one of its dental

officers who is a licensed dentist, in the state of persons accepted by it as patients, or in any hospital,

institution, clinic, or program affiliated for training purposes with the hospital, institution, or clinic

designated on this certificate, which affiliation is approved by the board, and in any case under

regulations established by that hospital, institution, or clinic. Each hospital, institution, or clinic

shall annually submit to the board a list of training programs that comply with the terms of this

section.

     (2) Practice under any such original or renewal limited registration so issued by the board

shall be limited to no longer than five (5) years unless said applicant passes a clinical examination

administered by the board or is a full-time faculty member.

     (3) Any applicant who has practiced under an original or renewed license for five (5) years

and who has passed a clinical examination administered by the board may qualify for a renewal of

such license for a period not to exceed five (5) years in which the applicant may continue to practice

in a hospital or other institution designated on their registration and under the direction of a

registered dentist employed therein.

     (b)(1) A limited registration shall entitle an applicant to practice dentistry only in the

hospital or other institution designated on their registration and under the direction of a registered

dentist or a special registration dentist employed therein. Limited registration under this section

may be revoked at any time by the board and a holder of such a limited registration shall not practice

dentistry in a private dental office or private dental clinic.

     (2) A full-time faculty member may participate in, and only in, an intramural group dental

practice which is operated, managed and physically located within a nonprofit dental educational

or research institution and their affiliated hospitals in which the full-time faculty member is

employed.

     (c)(1) Upon the completion of ten (10) years of practice under any original or renewal

license authorized by subsection (a) of this section, an applicant may apply for a special registration.

A special registration shall entitle an applicant to practice dentistry in the hospital or other

institution designated on their registration and in any private dental practice where RIte Care is

accepted without the supervision of a registered dentist.

     (2) The applicant shall practice dentistry in equal amounts in:

     (i) The hospital or other institution designated on their registration; and

     (ii) Any private dental practice where RIte Care is accepted.

     (d) A dentist who has obtained not less than five (5) years of lawful practice in a foreign

country or province who presents to the board a certificate of registration and duration of practice

from the foreign country or province’s board of registration of dentistry or equivalent entity may

apply for a limited registration; provided, however, that such other jurisdictions shall require a

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degree of competency determined by the board to be comparable to that required of examinees in

this state.

     (e) The board and/or the director may promulgate any rules and regulations that may be

necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

     Limited registration under this section may be revoked at any time by the board. The board

and/or the director may promulgate any rules and regulations that it deems necessary to carry out

the provisions of this section.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 5-33.1 of the General Laws entitled "Funeral Service Contracts" is

hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     5-33.1-22.1. Limited registration of dental hygienists.

     The board may examine a person of good moral character who is not less than nineteen

(19) years of age, upon the payment of the fee set forth in § 23-1-54, to the department of health,

in subjects considered essential for a dental hygienist and, if the results of the person’s examination

are satisfactory, the person shall receive a limited registration as a dental hygienist and be given a

certificate allowing them to practice dental hygiene if they are:

     (1) A graduate of a school for dental hygienists that:

     (i) Is accredited or recognized as accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation

of the American Dental Association; and

     (ii) Requires a course of not less than one academic year that is approved by the board;

     (2) A full-time dental student who has satisfactorily completed not less than four (4) full

semesters in an accredited dental college; or

     (3) A graduate from an accredited dental college who has not previously been examined

by the board in subjects considered by the board to be essential for a dental hygienist.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS-DENTISTS AND DENTAL

HYGIENISTS

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     This act would allow for the expansion of limited registrations of dentists and dental

hygienists.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC002584

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