§ 6604-a. Mandatory continuing education for dentists. 1. (a) Each
dentist, licensed pursuant to this article, required to register
triennially with the department to practice in this state shall comply
with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education requirements,
except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision.
Dentists who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education
requirements shall not practice until they have met such requirements
and have been issued a registration or conditional registration
certificate.

(b) Dentists shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education
requirement for the triennial registration period during which they are
first licensed. In accordance with the intent of this section,
adjustments to the mandatory continuing education requirement may be
granted by the department for reasons of health, certified by a
physician, for extended active duty with the armed forces of the United
States, or for other good cause acceptable to the department which may
prevent compliance.

(c) A licensed dentist not engaged in public practice as an individual
practitioner, a partner of a partnership, a shareholder of a
professional service corporation, or an employee of such practice units,
shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement upon
the filing of a statement with the department declaring such status. Any
licensee who returns to the public practice of dentistry during the
triennial registration period shall notify the department prior to
reentering the profession and shall meet such mandatory continuing
education requirements as shall be prescribed by regulation of the
commissioner.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for
registration shall complete a minimum of sixty hours of acceptable
formal continuing education, a maximum of eighteen hours of which may be
self-instructional coursework as approved by the department. Beginning
with the first registration renewal period for any dentist occurring on
or after January first, two thousand two, and before the occurrence of
the second registration renewal period following that date, a dentist
shall have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the sixty hours of
acceptable formal continuing education required by this section, no
fewer than two hours of coursework and training regarding the chemical
and related effects and usage of tobacco and tobacco products and the
recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of the oral health effects,
including but not limited to cancers and other diseases, caused by
tobacco and tobacco products, provided that any dentist who provides
written proof satisfactory to the department that the dentist has
completed, at any time subsequent to the effective date of this section,
an approved mandatory continuing education course of not less than two
hours in the same or substantially similar subject matter shall be
deemed to have met this requirement, and further provided that dentists
who are exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement for
the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed
shall also be exempt from this requirement for that period. Any dentist
whose first registration date following the effective date of this
section occurs less than three years from such effective date, but on or
after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight and before July
first, two thousand eight, shall complete continuing education hours on
a prorated basis at the rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for
the period beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven up to
the first registration date thereafter. For any registration period
beginning before July first, two thousand eight and ending on or after
such date, each dentist shall complete continuing education hours on a
pro rata basis at a rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for the
period ending June thirtieth, two thousand eight and at a rate of one
and two-thirds hours per month for the period beginning July first, two
thousand eight up to the first registration date thereafter. A licensee
who has not satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements
shall not be issued a triennial registration certificate by the
department and shall not practice unless and until a conditional
registration certificate is issued as provided in subdivision three of
this section. The individual licensee shall determine the selection of
courses or programs of study pursuant to subdivision four of this
section.

3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional
registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
agrees to make up any deficiencies and take any additional education
which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional
registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the
triennial registration. The duration of such conditional registration
shall be determined by the department. Any licensee who is notified of
the denial of registration for failure to submit evidence, satisfactory
to the department, of completion of required continuing education and
who practices dentistry without such registration, may be subject to
disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of
this title.

4. As used in this section, "acceptable formal continuing education"
shall mean formal programs of learning which contribute to professional
practice and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the
commissioner. To fulfill the mandatory continuing education requirement,
programs must be taken from sponsors having at least one full-time
employee and the facilities, equipment, and financial and physical
resources to provide continuing education courses, approved by the
department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.

5. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial
registration period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial
registration fee required by section six thousand six hundred four of
this article.

6. On or after the effective date of this subdivision, and no later
than the end of the first registration period commencing on or after
such date during which he or she is required to comply with the
continuing education requirements of this section, each dentist shall
have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the mandatory hours of
acceptable formal continuing education required by this section, no
fewer than three hours in a course approved by the department in dental
jurisprudence and ethics, which shall include the laws, rules,
regulations and ethical principles relating to the practice of dentistry
in New York state, provided that postgraduate dental students enrolled
in New York state dental residency programs may satisfy the requirements
of this subdivision by taking such an approved course during the period
of their dental residency prior to their initial licensure.