Continuing Education
Governor Wolf Waives In-person Continuing Education Requirements for Licensees
On March 22, Governor Tom Wolf suspended the requirements for
dental licensees to obtain a specific amount of in-person
continuing education (CE) credits for the current biennial renewal
period ending March 31, 2021.
Current regulations require that dentists obtain 15 hours, dental
hygienists 10 hours, and expanded function dental assistants
(EFDAs) five hours, in-person CE as part of the overall requirement
(30 hours for dentists, 20 for dental hygienists and 10 for EFDAs).
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and the need for everyone to
isolate in order to mitigate its devastating impact, licensees will
not have had to take any in-person CE in order to reapply for
licensure in March 2021. This applies to courses taken between
April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021.
Licensees may fulfill their CE requirements through online and
self-study. Please note that these licensees must be compliant
with the State Board of Dentistry’s other requirements that
courses taken must be in approved subject areas and offered by
board-approved sponsors. In addition, courses must be
completed between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021, to count
for the current biennial renewal period.
PDA offers distance-learning opportunities with our online
learning platform and many of the courses are complimentary for
PDA member dentists! We charge a small fee for non-dentist team
members to take online courses and they will need their own
record in PDA’s database before they can access PDA’s online CE.
Call PDA at (800) 223-0016 with the name, mailing address and
unique email address for each dental team member interested in
completing PDA’s online CE courses.
Online courses currently available include:
• Act 124 - Pain Management Alternatives & Identification of
Addiction – 2 CE credits
• Radiation Protection Update – 2 CE credits
• Promoting Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination in
Primary Care and Dental Practices – 2 CE credits
• OSHADontics – Work Place Safety for Dental Offices –
1 CE credit
• Antibiotic Stewardship – 1 CE credit
• To Pull or not to Pull – 2 CE credits (Alternative treatment
options for restorative and/or endodontic failures)
• Cyber Security Information Security Basics offers insight into
the current threat landscape for cyber risk and explains the
basic fundamental protections organizations can put in place
to reduce their cyber risk.
The following courses will be available this summer:
• Periodontics
• HIPAA
• Medical Marijuana
• Infection Control and,
• Act 31 – Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting
for Dental Professionals
For more information and detailed instructions for accessing PDA’s
online CE please see pp. 40-41.
MAY/JUNE 2020 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 39