Legislation that took effect Jan. 1, 2025, mandates that unlicensed dental assistants in California complete a dental board-approved eight-hour infection control course before performing any basic supportive dental procedures that may involve exposure to blood, saliva or other potentially infectious materials.
Additionally, this legislation, known as the Dental Board of California’s sunset bill (SB 1453), allows board-approved providers to offer the infection control course in a virtual and asynchronous format, but implementation of the course format changes has been delayed.
Employers are still responsible for ensuring that unlicensed dental assistants complete the IC course before any potential exposure to blood or saliva despite the delayed flexibility in course format. The requirement cannot be satisfied by completing a two-hour IC course that licensed dental team members complete for renewal; it must be a board-approved eight-hour IC course.
However, if dental assistants cannot complete the course due to the board’s inability to implement a virtual course option, CDA recommends that dentist-employers document the assistant’s hire date along with the factors preventing course completion and provide an estimated timeline for course completion.
If the board receives complaints or conducts an audit, compliance will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis as occurs with all investigations. Dentists who hired unlicensed dental assistants after Jan. 1, 2025, may receive more leniency. Conversely, dentists who hired assistants before the bill’s effective date may be subject to stricter enforcement since they had one year to ensure unlicensed dental assistants completed the course if employed for more than 120 days.
CDA-sponsored bill would ease compliance for employer-dentists
CDA is sponsoring a bill by Assemblymember Juan Alanis (R-Merced) to address the implementation challenges that are preventing the board from approving virtual eight-hour IC courses and to give dentist-employers additional time to comply. For updates on CDA’s advocacy efforts on this matter and other key issues affecting California dentists, visit the CDA newsroom. CDA members are encouraged to subscribe to the weekly member newsletter, Inside California Dentistry.
