2.3 Temporary, Volunteer & Restricted Licenses, Military Status and Notification Duties

Temporary, Volunteer, and Restricted Licenses

Temporary licenses for education and research

RSA 317-A:8, III allows OPLC, in consultation with the Board, to issue a temporary license for research projects and professional education programs with clinical dental components. Den 301.03 fills in the details:

• It is granted on an individual request basis for a professional education program using dental clinical procedures, or for research projects with a clinical dental component.
• The applicant must meet the minimum requirements for licensure by examination or endorsement. An applicant who does not must obtain a license through the CDCA or another regional clinical exam, or through the endorsement process.
• The license is valid for 1 year or the length of the program or project, whichever occurs first.

Volunteer services licenses

RSA 317-A:8, IV authorizes temporary licenses for voluntary dental or dental hygiene services. The applicant must be an active, inactive, or former licensee in New Hampshire, another state, or a Canadian province. Den 301.05 sets the conditions:

Den 101.36 defines a volunteer as someone who provides dental care without pay or compensation for the work or service.

Restricted licenses — Den 301.09

A restricted license limits a dentist or hygienist to the procedures the Board specifies. It is issued:

1. to practitioners who can perform some, but not all, procedures to acceptable professional standards; and
2. to practitioners who need remedial training in specific areas to reach standards that protect the public.

A restricted license differs from the disciplinary sanction of limitation or restriction of a license under Den 407.02(a)(2). Both limit practice, but the Den 301.09 license is a licensing category, while Den 407.02 restrictions follow a misconduct finding.

Students and residents

Separate licenses are not needed for:

• dental students of CODA-accredited schools practicing in hospitals or institutions under a licensed CODA faculty member (RSA 317-A:20, III(b)); and
• residents in CODA-accredited residency programs supervised by an actively licensed New Hampshire dentist, for the duration of the residency (RSA 317-A:20, III(d)).

Hygiene students who passed a local anesthesia or nitrous oxide course in school do not violate the rules when they administer those agents during a dental hygiene examination (Den 302.05(j)(4), (o)(4)).

Military service

Notification and display duties

• Name changes: notify the Board in writing within 30 days, with a copy of the legal documentation (Den 301.06(a)).
• Address changes: notify in writing within 30 days of any change of business, residential, or email address (Den 301.06(b)). RSA 317-A:13, II imposes the same 30-day duty to notify OPLC of business or residential address changes between renewals.
• Consequence: a licensee who misses the 30-day deadline shall be issued a letter of concern (Den 301.06(c)). A letter of concern is non-disciplinary (Den 101.18).
• Display of license: dentists display the license at all times in a conspicuous place in the office where they practice and show it to Board members or agents on request (RSA 317-A:11). Hygienists display theirs where they treat patients (RSA 317-A:21-b).
• Display of name: anyone practicing dentistry must display, at the entrance of the place of business, the name of the individual practicing dentistry there (RSA 317-A:27).
• Sanctions elsewhere: dentists and hygienists must inform the Board in writing within 30 days of any sanction imposed by any jurisdiction (Den 501.01(j)).

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