SECTION .0200 - CONTINUING EDUCATION

21 NCAC 16R .0201         CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIRED

(a)  Except as permitted in Rule .0204 of this Section as a condition of license renewal, every dentist shall complete a minimum of 15 clock-hours of continuing education each calendar year.

(b)  For licensees who prescribe controlled substances, one hour of the total required continuing education hours shall consist of a course designed to address prescribing practices, including instruction on controlled substance prescribing practices and controlled substance prescribing for chronic pain management.

(c)  Each applicant who receives an Instructor's license or a license to practice general dentistry after January 1, 2019, and who is actively engaged in the practice or teaching of dentistry in North Carolina shall take a six-hour course in professionalism and ethics in the first year that the applicant is required to meet the continuing education requirements of Paragraph (a) of this Rule.

(1)           The six-hour professionalism and ethics course shall be included in the 15 clock-hour requirement of Paragraph (a) of this Rule.

(2)           The professionalism and ethics Course shall include segments addressing coding and billing, record keeping, informed consent, patient and staff boundaries, office management, duties delegable to dental auxiliaries, the American Dental Association's Code of Ethics, and professionalism.

(3)           A dentist who receives a variance or exemption from continuing education requirements under 21 NCAC 16R .0204(a)(1),(3), or (4) shall be exempt from taking the professionalism and ethics course until such time as he or she resumes full practice. A dentist classified as a semi-retired Class II dentist shall complete the professionalism and ethics course.

(d)  Any or all of the hours may be acquired through self-study courses, provided that the self-study courses are related to clinical patient care and offered by a Board-approved sponsor listed in Rule .0202 of this Section. The dentist shall pass a test following every self-study course and obtain a certificate of completion.

(e)  Courses taken to maintain CPR certification shall not count toward the mandatory continuing education hours set forth in this Rule.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 90-31.1;

Eff. July 1, 2015;

Amended Eff. August 1, 2016;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. January 9, 2018;

Amended Eff. November 1, 2018; September 1, 2018.