HB 346-DENTIST: TEMPORARY PERMIT    3:20:26 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 346, "An Act relating to the licensure of dentists." 3:20:53 PM CAITLYN ELLIS, Staff, Representative Sam Kito, Alaska State Legislature, introduced HB 346 on behalf of Representative Kito, prime sponsor. She explained the hearing was on a bill drafted from a previous meeting. She paraphrased from the sponsor statement [including in committee packet] which reads as follows [original punctuation provided]: House Bill 346 would allow the Alaska Board of Dental Examiners to grant temporary licenses when a dental specialist is suddenly incapacitated or when a small community does not have access to specialized care. Alaska has a limited number of dental specialists, many of whom serve multiple small communities. There are nine dental specialties as defined by the American Dental Association: oral surgery, orthodontics, periodontics (gums), endodontics (root canals), pedodontics (kids), prosthodontics (replacing teeth), public health, , oral pathology (oral diseases), and oral radiology (x-rays); however, Alaska does not have a single specialist in oral radiology. Of the 647 licensed dentists in Alaska, 136 dentists are specialists. Dental specialists in Alaska are limited in number and have full schedules. If a specialist is suddenly incapacitated, there is no reserve to draw from, and multiple small communities could be without specialist care for an extended period of time. Small communities have historically had a hard time recruiting healthcare practioners and the trend seems to be worsening. Temporary dental licenses would allow the Alaska Board of Dental Examiners to maintain dental care in these communities until a full-time dentist can be found. The board is ideally qualified to evaluate the need to circumvent transitional licensing procedures for dentists in exceptional circumstances. 3:23:11 PM REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD asked whether there are other medical professions that require temporary licensure. JANEY McCULLOUGH, Division Director, Corporations, Business, & Professional Licensing (DCBPL), Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED), answered questions in the hearing on HB 346. She answered that most of the other professions have an avenue for temporary licensure. REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD asked for confirmation that prior to the proposed legislation specialist dentists did not have the same tool. MS. McCULLOUGH answered in the affirmative. 3:24:19 PM DR. DAVID NIELSON, Alaska Dental Board, testified in support of HB 346. He said the creation of a streamlined, temporary license would solve the problem of incapacitated dental specialists who serve a patient base that cannot be absorbed by the existing licensees, either because they are a specialist or due to their remote location. 3:25:57 PM DR. DAVID LOGAN, Alaska Dental Society, testified in support of HB 346. He said the rationale behind the legislation is that communities risk being without specialist dental services should a specialist become incapacitated. CHAIR KITO asked for any information on how the bill could be made better. DR. LOGAN said the proposed bill would allow the board to shorten the process of emergency licensing for dentists. CHAIR KITO surmised that was consistent with the intent of the bill. 3:28:00 PM CHAIR KITO opened public testimony on HB 346. Upon ascertaining that no one was available to testify, he set the proposed bill aside. CHAIR KITO announced the committee was working on a committee substitute. 3:28:29 PM [HB 346 was held over.]