AN ACT Relating to dental professions; amending RCW 18.32.0351 and 18.260.090; and reenacting and amending RCW 18.32.040.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1.  RCW 18.32.0351 and 2007 c 269 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

The Washington state dental quality assurance commission is established, consisting of ((sixteen)) seventeen members each appointed by the governor to a four-year term. No member may serve more than two consecutive full terms. In appointing the initial members of the commission, it is the intent of the legislature that, to the extent possible, members of the previous boards and committees regulating these professions be appointed to the commission. Members of the commission hold office until their successors are appointed. The governor may appoint members of the initial commission to staggered terms of from one to four years. Thereafter, all members shall be appointed to full four-year terms. Twelve members of the commission must be dentists, two members must be expanded function dental auxiliaries licensed under chapter 18.260 RCW, and ((two)) three members must be public members.

Sec. 2.  RCW 18.260.090 and 2007 c 269 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The commission shall issue an initial credential or renewal credential to an applicant who has met the requirements for a credential or deny an initial credential or renewal credential based upon failure to meet the requirements for a credential or unprofessional conduct or impairment governed by chapter 18.130 RCW.

Sec. 3.  RCW 18.32.040 and 2005 c 454 s 2 and 2005 c 274 s 222 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

The commission shall require that every applicant for a license to practice dentistry shall:

(1) Present satisfactory evidence of graduation from a dental college, school, or dental department of an institution approved by the commission; and

(2) ((Submit, for the files of the commission, a recent picture duly identified and attested; and

(3)))(a) Pass an examination prepared or approved by and administered under the direction of the commission. The dentistry licensing examination shall consist of practical and written tests upon such subjects and of such scope as the commission determines. The commission shall set the standards for passing the examination. The secretary shall keep on file the examination papers and records of examination for at least one year. This file shall be open for inspection by the applicant or the applicant's agent unless the disclosure will compromise the examination process as determined by the commission or is exempted from disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW.

(b) The commission may accept, in lieu of all or part of the written examination required in (a) of this subsection, a certificate granted by a national or regional testing organization approved by the commission.

(c) The commission shall accept, in lieu of the practical examination required in (a) of this subsection, proof that an applicant has satisfactorily completed a postdoctoral dental residency program accredited by the commission on dental accreditation of the American dental association and approved by the commission, of one to three year's duration, in a community health clinic that serves predominantly low-income patients or is located in a dental care health professional shortage area in this state, and that includes an outcome assessment evaluation, other than the western regional examining board's clinical examination, assessing the resident's competence to practice dentistry. The commission shall develop criteria, consistent with the standards of the commission on dental accreditation of the American dental association, for community clinics to use when sponsoring students in a residency program under this subsection, including guidelines for the proper supervision of the resident and measuring the resident's competence to practice dentistry.

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