Provides for the certification of and qualifications for dentists practicing oral and maxillofacial surgery

BILL NUMBER:S8347

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to amending the definition of the scope of practice of dentistry to authorize certain dentists who are qualified and certified to perform any procedure in the oral and maxillofacial area; and to amend the public health law and the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the discipline and liability of dentists who are so qualified and certified

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill would permit maxillofacial surgeons who have: A) been certified by the State Education Department and the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and have B) been granted privileges to perform certain oral and maxillofacial surgery procedures by a general hospital to perform the same oral and maxillofacial procedures regardless of its relation to the oral cavity. It would eliminate the need to rely on the emergency exception for those surgeons who do perform such procedures.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1: Amends Education Law section 6601 to divide the scope of practice section into two subdivisions. The second new section adds express authorization for oral and maxillofacial surgeons to perform certain procedures in the oral and maxillofacial area provided the oral and maxillofacial surgeon has been granted privileges to perform such procedure by a general hospital under Article 28 of the Public Health Law. Only surgeons who have been certified by the State Education Department would be eligible to obtain this expanded scope of practice.

Section 2: Amends Public Health Law section 230-d to add oral and maxillofacial surgeons who have been certified pursuant to the new Education Law section 6601(2)to perform office based surgery as long as they are licensed by the Department of Health.

Section 3: Amends Public Health Law section 2995-·d to ask the Department of Health, in cooperation with the SED, to examine whether oral and maxillofacial surgeons, who have the expanded scope of practice, should become part of the physician profiling program.

Section 4: Amends CPLR. section 3101 to permit physicians to testify in medical malpractice cases that involve oral and maxillofacial surgery that is authorized under the expanded scope of practice.

Justification

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons are surgical specialists of the dental profession. Like medical surgeons, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

undergo long residencies of between four to six years. These nationally accredited residencies involve hundreds of facial surgeries, schooling in advanced biomedical sciences, hospital surgery rotations and general anesthesia/deep sedation. Surgical concentrations are in four main areas: 1) trauma; 2) pathology; 3) jaw surgery and 4) reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Most Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons serve on hospital trauma teams to repair facial injuries on accident victims. In 2001, chapter 576 expanded and amended the scope of practice for dentistry to include the entire oral and maxillofacial area as it related to restoring or maintaining dental health. This amendment would continue the scope's modernization by allowing any procedure within that area to be performed by those Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons who have been granted privileges to perform the procedure/s in a hospital licensed by the health department.

Prior legislative history

A.7044 of 2007-2008 - Referred to Higher Education

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become law.