CE update
CDE & License Renewal by Raghu Puttaiah , BDS , MPH , FICD
The practice of dental safety is critical for both patients and
employees and must be considered the most important field in clinical practice . Regular training in dental infection control recommendations and guidelines , OSHA rules for dentistry , and HIPAA is required by every State Board of Dental Examiners for dentists , hygienists , dental assistants , and dental laboratory technicians for practice license renewal . Most states in the U . S . require the whole dental team to complete continuing dental education ( CDE ) either annually or every two years . Some states are more stringent in their mandatory requirements .
An initial training and annual updates are a must in these mandatory fields . When the dental health professional is renewing the license to practice , they are required to comply with and demonstrate proof of approved CDE when audited by their state ’ s board of dental examiners . Mandatory training that is required in the field of ‘ dental safety ’ may or may not give CDE . For example , annual training in federal or state OSHA Rules , HIPAA and TX HB 300 , and training in CPR , while mandatory , cannot be given CDE credits as they are mandated federally and locally . For these three fields , CDE is only applicable and provided for training in ‘ dental infection control ’ ( with an exception for those dentists in the AGD Fellowship or Mastership track where it is accepted as hours of training ). Almost every state dental board requires annual training in dental infection control and CDE credits can be provided for this field . Continuing education on HIPAA is mandatory , both initially and at least once every two years . For most federally mandated programs such as OSHA and HIPAA , CDE credits are not provided but proof of training is required .
Training can be obtained by attending a live in-person session or a live video session provided by a well-trained and vetted expert ( formal training and a vetted scholastic history ), or with self-paced , self-learning methods such as viewing a streaming program ( not presented or moderated live by the trainer ) or through materials by mail . If the training is live ( in-person or online ), no tests need to be completed but proof of attendance is required . If it is not a live online or a self-paced training , a test with a ‘ pass ’ score is required to obtain proof of completion ( Certificate of Completion ). Providers of the CDE in dentistry have to be registered through the ADA ’ s Continuing Education Recognition Program ( ADA CERP ) or the Academy of General Dentistry ’ s Program Approval for Continuing Education ( AGD PACE ), and both are accepted for license renewal by the State ’ s Board of Dental Examiners . The intent of ADA CERP and AGD PACE is to provide high-quality meaningful training that either has no financial conflict of interest or that clearly declares any conflict of interest if present .
When choosing training programs , know your trainer . Know their credentials in dentistry , their level of training in dentistry , their scholastic achievements in the field of dental infection control , OSHA rules as applicable to dentistry and HIPAA , as well as any conflicts of interest – whether they are selling products or working for marketers and manufacturers , or entities that are supported financially . Any ‘ free training ’ normally has a catch , so think critically about whether it is going to help your team implement dental safety in your practice for patients and employees . There are very , very few free programs that have no conflict of interest . Choose CDE programs at dental schools , dental alumni associations , dental association meetings , or for-profit educational entities that charge for meaningful safety training which are beneficial to your patients and employees . If you pay for training , it should be for the practical information and not for products or financial / material conflicts of interest of the training provider .
Dr . Raghu Puttaiah is a Public Health Dentist , a Public Health Professional , a Johnson & Johnson Medical Inc . Post-Doctoral Fellow in Infectious Disease Control in Dentistry , and Fellow of International College of Dentists . He retired as a professor with tenure from TAMU College of Dentistry .
Dr . Puttaiah is President of ToothCE LLC , an online dental education company that provides continuing dental education in the fields of infection control , OSHA and HIPAA nationwide ( www . toothce . com ).
He is also President of OSHA4Dental LLC , a DFW-based dental safety education company that provides live training for clinics in dental safety ( www . osha4dental . com ).
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