Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 118 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the Board of Dental Examiners to accept a national uniform dental and dental hygiene examination for licensure when implemented, and in the interim accept the results of a regional examination for dentists and a regional or state examination for dental hygienists.

The Board of Dental Examiners, Hawaii Dental Hygienists' Association, Hawaii Dental Association, Hawaii Medical Service Association, and four individuals submitted testimony in support of this measure. One individual submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that the future of the dental profession lies in the adoption of more widely accepted regional examinations and ultimately a national examination. This will assure the people of Hawaii that their dentists and dental hygienists are of equal or greater qualification to their counterparts on the mainland and provides portability of this qualification. Hawaii dentists would be able to move their practices to the mainland with less administrative difficulty and expense. It would also be easier for dentists and hygienists to move to Hawaii from other states. This measure assists the Board of Dental Examiners to make a smooth transition from the state examination to the national uniform examination.

Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by providing a retroactive effective date of February 1, 2004.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 118, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 118, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing.