§ 6604-a. Mandatory continuing education for dentists. 1. (a) Each dentist, licensed pursuant to this article, required to register triennially with the department to practice in this state shall comply with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education requirements, except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subdivision. Dentists who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education requirements shall not practice until they have met such requirements and have been issued a registration or conditional registration certificate.

(b) Dentists shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement for the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed. In accordance with the intent of this section, adjustments to the mandatory continuing education requirement may be granted by the department for reasons of health, certified by a physician, for extended active duty with the armed forces of the United States, or for other good cause acceptable to the department which may prevent compliance.

(c) A licensed dentist not engaged in public practice as an individual practitioner, a partner of a partnership, a shareholder of a professional service corporation, or an employee of such practice units, shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the department declaring such status. Any licensee who returns to the public practice of dentistry during the triennial registration period shall notify the department prior to reentering the profession and shall meet such mandatory continuing education requirements as shall be prescribed by regulation of the commissioner.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for registration shall complete a minimum of sixty hours of acceptable formal continuing education, a maximum of eighteen hours of which may be self-instructional coursework as approved by the department. Beginning with the first registration renewal period for any dentist occurring on or after January first, two thousand two, and before the occurrence of the second registration renewal period following that date, a dentist shall have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the sixty hours of acceptable formal continuing education required by this section, no fewer than two hours of coursework and training regarding the chemical and related effects and usage of tobacco and tobacco products and the recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of the oral health effects, including but not limited to cancers and other diseases, caused by tobacco and tobacco products, provided that any dentist who provides written proof satisfactory to the department that the dentist has completed, at any time subsequent to the effective date of this section, an approved mandatory continuing education course of not less than two hours in the same or substantially similar subject matter shall be deemed to have met this requirement, and further provided that dentists who are exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement for the triennial registration period during which they are first licensed shall also be exempt from this requirement for that period. Any dentist whose first registration date following the effective date of this section occurs less than three years from such effective date, but on or after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight and before July first, two thousand eight, shall complete continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for the period beginning January first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven up to the first registration date thereafter. For any registration period beginning before July first, two thousand eight and ending on or after such date, each dentist shall complete continuing education hours on a pro rata basis at a rate of one and one-quarter hours per month for the period ending June thirtieth, two thousand eight and at a rate of one and two-thirds hours per month for the period beginning July first, two thousand eight up to the first registration date thereafter. A licensee who has not satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements shall not be issued a triennial registration certificate by the department and shall not practice unless and until a conditional registration certificate is issued as provided in subdivision three of this section. The individual licensee shall determine the selection of courses or programs of study pursuant to subdivision four of this section.

3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who agrees to make up any deficiencies and take any additional education which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the triennial registration. The duration of such conditional registration shall be determined by the department. Any licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of completion of required continuing education and who practices dentistry without such registration, may be subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

4. As used in this section, "acceptable formal continuing education" shall mean formal programs of learning which contribute to professional practice and which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. To fulfill the mandatory continuing education requirement, programs must be taken from sponsors having at least one full-time employee and the facilities, equipment, and financial and physical resources to provide continuing education courses, approved by the department, pursuant to the regulations of the commissioner.

5. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars, shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial registration period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial registration fee required by section six thousand six hundred four of this article.

6. On or after the effective date of this subdivision, and no later than the end of the first registration period commencing on or after such date during which he or she is required to comply with the continuing education requirements of this section, each dentist shall have completed on a one-time basis, as part of the mandatory hours of acceptable formal continuing education required by this section, no fewer than three hours in a course approved by the department in dental jurisprudence and ethics, which shall include the laws, rules, regulations and ethical principles relating to the practice of dentistry in New York state, provided that postgraduate dental students enrolled in New York state dental residency programs may satisfy the requirements of this subdivision by taking such an approved course during the period of their dental residency prior to their initial licensure.