HB322: HB322 Ga. Board of Dentistry; issuance of a dental or dental hygiene license for the sole purpose of teaching in an accredited dental, dental hygiene school, or academic medical center; revise provisions

Georgia law lets the Board of Dentistry issue a special no-exam teaching license to dentists so they can instruct at accredited dental schools, advanced dental education programs, or academic medical centers. This bill replaces the old qualification pathway, which focused on where an applicant earned their dental degree and required extra supplementary coursework certified by a dean, with a new set of requirements focused on the applicant's professional history and job offer. Under the new version of O.C.G.A. section 43-11-42, an applicant must already be or have been licensed to practice dentistry elsewhere, must submit a dean or director's letter confirming a real full-time or part-time job offer at the teaching institution, must never have failed the Georgia dental licensing exam or had a license revoked anywhere, and must hold current CPR certification. The bill also adds a new subsection clarifying that this teaching license only allows practice tied to the licensee's teaching duties, and it makes the jurisprudence exam mandatory rather than discretionary. The rest of the code section, covering temporary public health licenses, license costs, and criminal background checks, is renumbered but left substantively the same.

• Removes the prior requirement that teaching-license applicants from unaccredited dental schools complete specific supplementary degree programs certified by a dean.
• Requires teaching-license applicants to already be, or have been, licensed to practice dentistry in another state, country, or territory.
• Requires applicants to submit a letter from the dean or director of the hiring school confirming a verified full-time or part-time job offer and that credentialing standards were met.
• Bars anyone who has ever failed the Georgia dental licensure exam or had a dental license revoked anywhere from getting this teaching license.
• Adds a new requirement that applicants hold a current CPR certification.
• Adds a subsection clarifying the teaching license only covers work tied to the licensee's teaching duties at the accredited school or affiliated programs.

The bill affects dentists seeking special no-exam licenses to teach at Georgia's accredited dental schools, advanced dental education programs, or academic medical centers, as well as the Georgia Board of Dentistry, which reviews these applications, and the dental schools and academic medical centers that employ these teaching dentists.

Dentists who want to teach in Georgia without taking the full licensing exam will face a different set of hurdles: proof of a real job offer, a clean licensing history, and CPR certification, rather than proof of specific supplemental coursework tied to where they earned their degree. This could change who qualifies to teach at Georgia dental programs.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. section 43-11-42(a.1) to remove the prior pathway requiring supplementary coursework certification for graduates of unaccredited dental schools.
• New paragraphs (A) through (E) require prior licensure elsewhere, a dean's or director's letter verifying an executed job offer, a clean exam and revocation history, and current CPR certification.
• A new subsection (b) limits the teaching license to practice performed while carrying out teaching duties at the affiliated school or its programs.
• The jurisprudence exam requirement is changed from discretionary ('may') to mandatory ('shall') for all applicants under this subsection.
• Subsequent subsections on temporary public health licenses, license costs, background checks, and criminal background check consent are relettered but not substantively changed.
• Section 2 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-09Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-09Act 88
3. 2025-05-09House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-31Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
8. 2025-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)

• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)Primary sponsor
• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-013)
• James Hatchett (R, HD-155)
• Matthew Gambill (R, HD-015)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   169 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #171

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2025

   52 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #375

• dental licensing
• dentistry education
• medical licensing
• Georgia Board of Dentistry