Dr. Unis Sullivan called the meeting to order. The minutes were reviewed with minor typographical amendments and approved unanimously.
Prosecutorial Report
- Case #1: Case was presented at the June meeting but rejected as too lenient. It involved an Avesis inspection that uncovered no sterilization documentation and failing radiological equipment that was not properly registered. The Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation could not inspect as the office was closed by the time of inspection. The civil penalty was increased from $4,500 to $7,500, and the licensee received 18 months of probation.
- Case #2 and #3: Case involved a hygienist who was practicing for 28 months on a lapsed license, and the dentist who employed the unlicensed hygienist. The prosecutor noted that the failure to renew the hygienist’s license was an oversight due to the pandemic and resulting shutdown. The hygienist received a $1,400 penalty and public reprimand, and the dentist received a $3,000 penalty and public reprimand.
- Case #4: Case was presented in the September meeting and rejected as too lenient. It involved a practitioner who misplaced posts in an endodontic procedure, resulting in perforations. The licensee was also using Sargenti Paste, which can cause nerve damage. Additional CE in endodontics, restorative, record keeping, and ethics were added, as well as a $2,000 civil penalty.
- Case #5: Case was presented in the September meeting and rejected as too lenient. It involved a licensee that had a pornographic image visible to a minor patient on an office computer, and the resulting inspection found no evidence of spore testing. Additional CE was ordered for HIPAA, infection control, and ethics, as well as a 30-day suspension followed by a probation period, as well as $3,000 in civil penalty.
- Case #6: Case involved a practitioner who entered the voluntary rehabilitation program for substance use disorder. The practitioner is not licensed and must progress in the VRP before applying for
- relicensure.
Report of Board Counsel
Regulations on anesthesia, Botox, mobile vans, EFDA examination, and general revisions will be visited in the upcoming Regulatory Committee meeting. A revision of civil penalties was released to stakeholders and received no substantiative comments. Penalties are increased and delineate when formal action is taken for practicing on a lapsed license. The board approved a motion to proceed with formal drafting of the civil penalty regulations. The regulations increasing licensure fees was approved and published as final.
Act 159 of 2022 was presented for the board’s information and will officially take effect in January of 2023. It will reduce the number of required CE hours for relicensure by three for no-cost volunteerism. The volunteerism must be in the field of dentistry, administration of a no-cost volunteer program would not qualify. Required regulatory revisions will be included in the general revisions.
Committee Reports
The Regulatory Committee met in September. Questions regarding the regulation of mobile vans was researched and presented by Dr. Mountain. Regulations involving nitrous and Botox will receive similar research. Revisions in EFDA examination, including a clinical examination, will receive priority.
Review of Applications
York Technical Institute has applied for approval of their EFDA program. Lisa Brown from YTI indicated that they had productive discussions with the EFDA committee. The board indicated that they would discuss the matter in executive session and will consider for a vote in a later meeting.
Election of Officers
Dr. Shawn Casey was elected as Board chair. Dr. Jennifer Unis Sullivan was elected as Vice Chair, and Theresa Groody was elected as Board Secretary.
