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An Act To Amend the Requirements for Licensure as an Independent Practice Dental Hygienist
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 32 MRSA §18345, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 429, §21, is amended to read:
 
A. For independent practice dental hygienist authority:
 
(1) If the applicant has a bachelor's degree or higher in dental hygiene from a dental hygiene program accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor organization, verification of 2,000 work hours of clinical practice during the 4 years preceding the application; or
 
(2) If the applicant has an associate degree in dental hygiene from a dental hygiene program accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor organization, verification of 5,000 work hours of clinical practice during the 6 years preceding the application.; or
 
(3) Verification of at least 5 years of clinical practice, including part-time practice or employment, as a licensed dental hygienist in a private dental practice or nonprofit setting while under the supervision of a dentist.
 
For purposes of meeting the clinical practice requirements of this paragraph, the applicant's hours or years in a private dental practice or nonprofit setting under the supervision of a dentist may be included as well as the applicant's hours or years as a public health dental hygienist or, prior to the effective date of this ActJuly 29, 2016, as a dental hygienist with public health supervision status;
 
SUMMARY
This bill removes the time restriction within which an applicant for independent practice dental hygienist authority must complete a specified number of hours of clinical practice. The bill also provides an applicant for independent practice dental hygienist authority an alternative method of meeting the specific hours by allowing the applicant to provide proof of at least 5 years of clinical practice, which may include part-time work, as a licensed dental hygienist.