To maintain a dental or dental hygiene license, 36 hours of acceptable continuing education are required to be completed by the licensee within a three-year period as defined in paragraphs (1)-(9) of this section: (1) Hours from a previous period shall not count nor shall extra credits be accumulated for use in a subsequent period; i.e., "banking" of hours is not permitted. (2) The three-year period will be determined as follows: (A) For a dentist or dental hygienist licensed on or before December 31, 1995, the period begins on the 1996 renewal date and the first three-year period ends on the licensee's renewal date in 1999. (B) For a dentist or dental hygienist licensed after December 31, 1995, the period begins on the date the license issues and the first three-year period ends on the date of the dentist's or dental hygienists's third renewal date. (C) Thereafter,
each licensee will begin a new three-year period each third renewal date. (3) Each licensee shall select and participate in the continuing education courses endorsed by the providers identified in §104.2 of this title (relating to Provider's Continuing Eduction). Alternatively, a licensee who is unable to meet education course requirements as cited in paragraph (5) of this section may request that alternative courses or procedures be approved by the Continuing Education Committee. (A) Such requests must be in writing and submitted to and approved by the Continuing Education Committee prior to the expiration of the three-year period for which the alternative is being requested. (B) A licensee must provide supporting documentation detailing the reason why the continuing education requirements set forth in paragraph (5) of this section cannot be met and must submit a proposal for alternative education procedures.
(C) Acceptable causes may include residence outside the United States, unanticipated financial or medical hardships, or other extraordinary circumstances that are documented. (D) Should the request be denied, the licensee must complete requirements as cited in paragraph (5) of this section. (4) Hours taken on or after February 6, 1995, may count toward the accumulation of hours for the first three-year period if they meet the criteria for acceptable continuing education hours identified in §104.2. (5) All 36 hours must be either technical or scientific as related to clinical care. The term "technical or scientific" as applied to continuing education shall mean that courses have significant intellectual or practical content and are designed to directly enhance the practitioner's knowledge and skill in providing clinical care to the individual patient. (6) Hours in the standards of
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are existing requirements and are not to be considered in the 36-hour requirement. (7) No more than 12 hours in any 36-hour accumulation may be in self-study. These self-study hours must be provided by those entities cited in §104.2. Examples of self-study courses include, but are not limited to, correspondence courses, video courses, audio courses, reading courses. (8) Any individual or entity may petition one of the providers listed in §104.2 to offer continuing education. (9) Individual courses and/or instructors will be approved by providers cited in §104.2 of this title. No more than 12 hours in a 36-hour accumulation may be interactive computerized courses. These hours must be provided by those entities cited in §104.2 of this title. Examples of interactive computer courses include those that involve
interactive dialog through electronic linkage with an instructor in which manipulation of text or data by the licensee occurs.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §104.1 adopted to be effective March 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 1422; amended to be effective April 19, 1998, 23 TexReg 3830; amended to be effective June 28, 1998, 23 TexReg 6440.
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