NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3244
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for
licensure as a dentist
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to provide a near-term boost to the pool of
dentists practicing in underserved areas while also providing a viable
pathway to licensure for qualified dentists from other jurisdictions who
seek to work in New York in the field of public health dentistry.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one: amends subdivision four of section 6605 of the education
law to provide for renewal of a limited permit to practice dentistry for
individuals practicing in a preceptorship program in a federally quali-
fied health care facility or similar facility; adds new subdivision 2-a
to authorize the department to issue a limited permit for instructing in
dentistry to eligible dentists licensed in another jurisdiction who
participate in a preceptorship program as a general practice preceptee
under the supervision of an eligible NYS-licensed dentist practicing in
a federally qualified health care facility or similar facility that
primarily serves an underserved population; and adds new subdivision 6
to provide for a pathway to licensure for a dentist that practices for
at least five years in accordance with this section.
Section two: amends subdivision three of section 6604 of the education
law to expand the "experience" standard to include satisfactory
completion of at least five years of practice as a dentist under a
limited permit in accordance with subdivisions 2 and 2-a of section 6605
of the education law; and amends subdivision six of section 6604 to
create parity with physicians and dentists by permitting the Board of
Regents to issue a limited waiver of citizenship requirements for
continued licensure of a dentist who holds an H-lb visa, an 0-1 visa, or
an equivalent or successor visa.
Section three: establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
According to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA), New York State currently has 161 dental Health Practitioner
Shortage Areas (HPSAs), including 117 designated HPSA facilities and 44
designated HPSA population groups (mostly Medicaid eligible popula-
tions).1 As a result, NYS currently meets only 16.15% of the documented
need, leading HRSA to estimate that New York needs an additional 588
dentists.2 Despite these challenges, current Department of Education
regulations require all dentists who have graduated dental school to
complete a one-year graduate residency program before they can become
licensed in New York. This requirement applies to both new and experi-
enced dentists, meaning that even dentists with years of practice expe-
rience in another jurisdiction must currently complete a graduate resi-
dency program before qualifying to practice here.
New York's residency mandate, which is an outlier among other states,
represents yet another barrier to attracting dentists to practice in
high need areas in New York State. In fact, despite annually graduating
among the highest number of dentists in the country, New York continues
to struggle to meet the needs of low-income, rural and developmentally
disabled patients. In addition to the residency mandate, other barriers
include a net annual out-migration of New York dentists,3 a decline in
CODA*-accredited dental residency programs4 (which have traditionally
served as a reliable resource for services to Medicaid recipients), too
few dentists practicing in rural and high need areas,5 the exorbitant
costs of attending dental school6 and establishing a dental practice,
perennially insufficient Medicaid reimbursement rates, and a wave of
dentist retirements in the, wake of the pandemic.
This bill offers an immediate boost to access to quality services by
offering qualified dentists the option - in lieu of a residency program
- to join the full-time faculty of a dental school or complete a precep-
torship in a hospital or clinic setting in a dental HPSA as a means to
become licensed in New York State. By doing so, New York will become
better able to attract qualified dentists to serve low income and
vulnerable populations while still maintaining current quality of care
standards.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8363 of 2024 - Referred to Higher Education S.9216 of 2024 - Referred
to Higher Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
*CODA is the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental
Association.
1 Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services. Health Workforce Shortage Areas.
https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas. Data as of
12/9/2024.
2 Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources and Services Adminis-
tration, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Designated Health
Professional Shortage Areas Statistics, Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year
2024 Designated HPSA Quarterly Summary. As of September 30, 2024.
3 Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association. U.S. Dentist
Migration Dashboard. https://www.ada.ordresources/research/ health-
policy-institute/dentist-mig ration-dashboard . Accessed online on
1/15/2025.
4 Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association. Trends In
Advanced Education in General Practice Residency Programs in the U.S.,
December 2021. See www.ADA.org/HPI.
5 Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services. HPSA Designations. HPSA Find. See
https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/hpsa-find.
6 Whereas the average medical school graduate in 2023 owes $265,000, the
average dental student in 2023 owes $296,500. See
https://educationdata.org/average-medical-school-debt and
https://educationdata.org/averagedental-school-debt. Accessed on
12/10/2024.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3244
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER, ANGELINO, MAGNARELLI, DeSTEFANO, LUPAR-
DO, SIMON, PAULIN, LUNSFORD, SEAWRIGHT, GLICK, JONES, BICHOTTE HERME-
LYN, RAGA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Educa-
tion
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for
licensure as a dentist
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 6605 of the education law, as
2 amended by chapter 57 of the laws of 1999, is amended and two new subdi-
3 visions 2-a and 6 are added to read as follows:
4 2-a. (a) On recommendation of the board, the department may issue a
5 limited permit for instructing in dentistry to a dentist not licensed
6 under this article to participate as a general practice dental preceptee
7 in a preceptorship program under the supervision of a licensed dentist
8 practicing in a federally qualified health care facility or similar
9 facility that primarily serves an underserved population, and in doing
10 so to practice dentistry as defined in this article, but only on the
11 premises of such federally qualified health care facility or such simi-
12 lar facility as may be used to conduct the preceptorship program,
13 provided such preceptee: (i) is licensed to practice dentistry in a
14 jurisdiction other than New York; (ii) has completed a dental program
15 accredited by an organization accepted by the department as a reliable
16 authority for the purpose of accrediting such programs (such as the
17 commission on dental accreditation); (iii) has completed a preliminary
18 competency examination in accordance with the commissioner's regu-
19 lations; (iv) has a minimum of five years full-time dental practice
20 experience or the equivalent thereof within the seven years immediately
21 preceding the request for a limited permit; and (v) practices for the
22 duration of the preceptorship program exclusively in a federally quali-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06285-01-5
A. 3244 2
1 fied health care facility or similar facility that primarily serves an
2 underserved population.
3 (b) A licensed preceptor dentist who supervises a preceptee pursuant
4 to this subdivision shall have practiced for at least three years imme-
5 diately preceding the assumption of a preceptorship and shall have under
6 their supervision not more than one full-time preceptee nor more than
7 two part-time preceptees.
8 4. A limited permit under this section shall be valid for one year or
9 until ten days after notification of denial of an application for
10 license. A limited permit may be renewed for one year, except if the
11 applicant is serving in a residency program in a hospital or school of
12 dentistry or preceptorship program in a federally qualified health care
13 facility or such similar facility in this state. A limited permit may be
14 renewed annually for the duration of such residency program or precep-
15 torship program. The fee for each limited permit and for each renewal
16 shall be one hundred five dollars.
17 6. A dentist that complies with the provisions of subdivision two or
18 two-a of this section for a duration of five years, upon satisfactory
19 completion of such five years of practice, may apply for licensure as a
20 dentist in this state.
21 § 2. Subdivisions 3 and 6 of section 6604 of the education law, subdi-
22 vision 3 as amended by chapter 613 of the laws of 2022 and subdivision 6
23 as amended by chapter 669 of the laws of 2022, are amended to read as
24 follows:
25 (3) Experience: have experience satisfactory to the board and in
26 accordance with the commissioner's regulations, provided that such expe-
27 rience shall consist of (i) satisfactory completion of a postdoctoral
28 general practice or specialty dental residency program, of at least one
29 year's duration, in a hospital or dental facility accredited for teach-
30 ing purposes by a national accrediting body approved by the department,
31 or (ii) satisfactory completion of at least five year's duration prac-
32 ticing as a dentist with a limited permit issued in accordance with
33 subdivision two or two-a of section sixty-six hundred five of this arti-
34 cle, provided, further that any such residency program, employment by a
35 registered school of dentistry or preceptorship program shall include a
36 formal outcome assessment evaluation of the resident's or dentist's
37 competence to practice dentistry acceptable to the department;
38 (6) Citizenship or immigration status: be a United States citizen or a
39 noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United
40 States; provided, however, that the board of regents may grant a three
41 year waiver for a noncitizen to practice in an area which has been
42 designated a federal dental health professions shortage area, except
43 that the board of regents may grant an additional extension not to
44 exceed six years to a noncitizen to enable [him or her] such noncitizen
45 to secure citizenship or permanent resident status, provided such status
46 is being actively pursued; and provided further that the board of
47 regents may grant an additional three-year waiver, and at its expira-
48 tion, an extension for a period not to exceed six additional years, for
49 the holder of an H-1b visa, an O-1 visa, or an equivalent or successor
50 visa thereto;
51 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
52 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
53 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
54 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
55 on or before such effective date.
