Colleagues,

Dentist Day week is upon us! We have a lot of appointments set up with legislators across the state, and our Dentist Day seminar is set up for Wednesday morning beginning at 8 a.m. During the seminar we will hear from Delegate Heather Bagnall about the Oral Health Task Force and Delegate Nic Kipke about the Expanded Function Dental Auxiliaries bill that he has introduced with our support. They have also agreed to take some questions from dentists following their remarks. I think it will be a great morning and week for all of us. If you haven’t signed up yet and would like to join us, it’s not too late to be included on the list for the Zoom links. Just click here to sign up.

In other news out of the Maryland General Assembly, our Expanded Function Dental Auxiliaries bill was introduced in both the House and the Senate this week. You can find the bill language by clicking this link: SB 714/HB 968. We are excited to enhance our dental teams’ skills and elevate ALL members of the team. Dental assistants play an important role in our patients’ experiences in our offices. Stay tuned to MSDA as we work to acknowledge these vital team members!

This week, on Thursday, Feb 17, we have testimony in the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. We will be testifying and offering amendments to a bill, SB 611, introduced by Senator Pam Beidle that makes drastic changes to the Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners. While important and appropriate in the bill’s intent, we have significant concerns about some unintended consequences that occur with the bill’s provisions. 

The bill is broken into four sections: board nominations, training, timeliness of decisions, and summary suspensions. 

• The nominations provisions under the bill make the process confusing, restricts who may be a member of the Board, undermines the Board’s authority, and may violate HIPPA. The law should remain as is. The current nomination process is fair and allows any dentist to be nominated by a petition signed by 10 other dentists.
• The second section regarding training, is important, but in reality, the costs associated with the bill’s proposal are unnecessary. Currently, the Board does receive training under the auspices of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.
• The third section requiring the Board to make timely decisions is also good, and important, but there must be some allowances for unforeseen circumstances such as pandemics or delays out of their hands.
• The final section on summary suspensions is also needed, but the provisions here would hinder, if not prevent, the Board’s ability to suspend incompetent practitioners, stop unsanitary or infection-prone practices, or take action for prescriptive and opioid abuses in an expeditious and timely manner.

While agreeing with the premises for several sections of the bill, it must be heavily amended for MSDA support. 

Please let us know if you are interested in supporting the MSDA position before the committee by emailing us at advocacy@msda.com.

We look forward to seeing many of you throughout the week at your Dentist Day appointments and at our Dentist Day seminar.

Stay well.