Provides that the department of education may waive the residency requirement for a license as a dentist for certain applicants who agree to practice in an underserved area of the state under the supervision of a dentist licensed and practicing in the state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10958
IN ASSEMBLY
April 14, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GRAY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to permitting waiver of
dental residency requirements for licensure in underserved areas under
supervised practice
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby
2 finds that many rural and underserved communities across the state face
3 significant shortages of licensed dental professionals, resulting in
4 reduced access to essential oral health services. Current law requires
5 completion of a one-year clinically based dental residency program in a
6 hospital or facility accredited for teaching purposes. While intended to
7 ensure competence, this requirement may unintentionally limit the timely
8 placement of qualified dental graduates in underserved regions.
9 It is the intent of this legislation to provide a narrowly tailored
10 waiver option to address workforce shortages by permitting qualified
11 dental graduates to practice under structured supervision in underserved
12 areas, thereby expanding access to oral health services while maintain-
13 ing standards of safety and competency.
14 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 6604 of the education law, as amended by
15 chapter 613 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
16 (3) Experience: have experience satisfactory to the board and in
17 accordance with the commissioner's regulations, provided that such expe-
18 rience shall consist of satisfactory completion of a postdoctoral gener-
19 al practice or specialty dental residency program, of at least one
20 year's duration, in a hospital or dental facility accredited for teach-
21 ing purposes by a national accrediting body approved by the department,
22 provided, further that any such residency program shall include a formal
23 outcome assessment evaluation of the resident's competence to practice
24 dentistry acceptable to the department. Provided, however, that the
25 department may waive such residency requirement for an applicant who
26 agrees to practice full-time in an underserved area of the state, as
27 designated by the commissioner in consultation with the department of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14303-01-5
A. 10958 2
1 health, under the direct or general supervision of a dentist licensed
2 and actively practicing in this state for not less than three years.
3 Such supervision shall occur within a radius of seventy-five miles from
4 the supervising dentist's primary practice location. The period of
5 supervised practice shall not be less than twelve consecutive months and
6 shall be subject to reporting and evaluation requirements established by
7 the commissioner to ensure competency equivalent to that obtained
8 through residency training. The commissioner shall promulgate regu-
9 lations establishing: (i) criteria for designation of underserved areas
10 eligible for waiver of such residency requirement, in consultation with
11 the department of health; (ii) qualifications of supervising dentists,
12 including minimum licensure period, disciplinary history, and superviso-
13 ry capacity; (iii) reporting and evaluation procedures to monitor
14 performance of dentists practicing under such waiver; and (iv) condi-
15 tions under which such waiver shall convert to permanent fulfillment of
16 the residency requirement, upon successful completion of the supervised
17 practice period;
18 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
19 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
20 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
21 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
22 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
23 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
24 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
25 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
26 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
27 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. The commissioner of
28 education is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations neces-
29 sary for the implementation of this act.
