The CDA has been actively engaged in the Colorado Dental Board rulemaking process, in response to the 2025 legislation for the Sunset of the Dental Practice Act (SB25-194). A full summary of all the new regulations will be in the CDA Fall Journal.
CDA Government Relations Director Lauren Harvey as well as a group of dedicated CDA member volunteers, have spent many hours in stakeholder meetings and at dental board meetings to share the critical feedback and priorities of dentists across the state.
As of this writing (Aug. 13), the Colorado Dental Board has adopted nearly all regulations to implement the Sunset Bill legislation. The dental board adopted a portion of new regulations on April 30, which became effective on June 30 (as reported in our June eNews), and adopted most of the remaining regulations on July 8, which will become effective on Aug. 30.
Notably, the Colorado Dental Board did NOT adopt regulations regarding the administration of neuromodulators and fillers. After hearing stakeholder feedback and a long discussion by Colorado Dental Board members, the board opted to delay adoption of regulations to gather additional stakeholder feedback. This public stakeholder meeting is on Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. CDA staff and CDA member volunteers will participate and testify at this meeting. We anticipate the board will adopt regulations regarding administration of neuromodulators and fillers at their Oct. 29 meeting.
At the July 8 meeting, the dental board adopted regulations on the following topics:
- Rule 1.13 Limited Prescriptive Authority for Dental Hygienists – identifying the minimum training required for hygienists prescribing and administering antibiotics, non-narcotic analgesics and anti-inflammatories, within the parameters of a written articulated plan from a collaborating dentist.
- Rule 1.25 Placement of Interim Therapeutic Restorations by Dental Hygienists – reiterating statutory language that, prior to providing ITR, a hygienist must confirm in writing with their supervising dentist that there is a referral plan for follow-up care with a licensed dentist within a reasonable distance of the patient.
- Rule 1.26 Application of Silver Fluorides and Other Related Safe Alternative Medicaments for Strengthening Teeth and Preventing Tooth Decay by Dental Therapists and Dental Hygienists – changing nomenclature of “silver diamine fluoride” to “silver fluorides” throughout this section of rule, and removing references to “articulated plans,” which are not required for application of silver fluorides.
- Rule 1.35 Itinerant Surgery – reiterating statutory language on the definition of itinerant surgery and requirements that, after itinerant surgery is performed, there must be a follow-up treatment plan within a reasonable distance of the location where the surgery is performed.
- Rule 1.36 Teledentistry – requiring appropriate measures to have a care plan in place or creating dentist-patient relationships prior to providing certain care via teledentistry. Requirements must be met prior to diagnosis and treatment of a patient. Additional requirements were added for follow-up care and note that a dentist cannot delegate services to be performed by a dental assistant via teledentistry (only services that are under indirect supervision for hygienists and dental therapists can be delegated via teledentistry by the dentist).
It is also notable that during this Sunset Bill regulatory process, the Colorado Dental Board adopted a small number of changes to regulations that were NOT part of the Sunset Bill. Namely, the Colorado Dental Board took action to make changes to rule 1.7 on Permissible Practice Ownership Structures. The CDA will provide information on this section of rule in the September eNews.
