STATE OF MICHIGAN  
DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS  
LANSING  
GRETCHEN WHITMER  
GOVERNOR  
ORLENE HAWKS  
DIRECTOR  
MICHIGAN BOARD OF DENTISTRY  
APRIL 13, 2023, MEETING  
UNAPPROVED MINUTES  
In accordance with the Open Meetings Act, 1976 PA 267, as amended, the Michigan  
Board of Dentistry met on April 13, 2023, at 611 West Ottawa Street, Upper-Level  
Conference Room 3, Lansing, Michigan 48933.  
CALL TO ORDER  
Irene Tseng, DDS, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.  
ROLL CALL  
Members Present: Irene Tseng, DDS, Chairperson  
Kristi Thomas, DDS, MPH, Vice Chairperson  
Fonda Brewer, Public Member  
Raymond DeWitt, Ed.D., Public Member  
Jennifer Fuller, DDS (arrived 10:04 a.m.)  
Mark Johnston, DDS  
Janet Kinney, RDH, MS  
Cynthia McCants, Public Member  
Vaijanthi Oza, DDS  
Edward Sarkisian, DDS  
Mamnoon Siddiqui, DDS, MS  
Craig Spangler, DDS  
Dawn Marie Strehl, RDH  
Kathleen Weber, CDA, RDA, BAS  
Hassan Yehia, DDS  
Members Absent: Cheryl Bentley, RDH  
Deborah Brown, DMD  
Ellen Chambers, RDA  
Martha Morgan, RDH  
Shakeel Niazi, DDS  
BUREAU OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSING  
611 W. OTTAWA P.O. BOX 30670 LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909  
www.michigan.gov/bpl 517-241-0199  
LARA is an equal opportunity employer/program  
Michigan Board of Dentistry  
Meeting Minutes  
April 13, 2023  
Page 2 of 7  
Staff Present:  
Laury Brown, Senior Analyst, Compliance Section  
Andria Ditschman, JD, Departmental Specialist,  
Boards and Committees Section  
Dena Marks, JD, Departmental Specialist,  
Boards and Committees Section  
Bridget Smith, JD, Assistant Attorney General  
Stephanie Wysack, Board Support Technician,  
Boards and Committees Section  
APPROVAL OF AGENDA  
MOTION by DeWitt, seconded by Weber, to approve the agenda with the removal of item  
6. and the addition of two items under New Business: A. Rules Discussion and B. Dental  
Student External Rotation Discussion.  
Discussion was held.  
A voice vote followed.  
MOTION PREVAILED  
APPROVAL OF MINUTES  
MOTION by Brewer, seconded by Kinney, to approve the minutes from December 8,  
2022, as written.  
A voice vote followed.  
MOTION PREVAILED  
HPRP Annual Report  
Marks provided an overview of the HPRP program and presented the HPRP Executive  
Summary: October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022.  
REGULATORY MATTERS  
None  
OLD BUSINESS  
None  
Michigan Board of Dentistry  
Meeting Minutes  
April 13, 2023  
Page 3 of 7  
COMMITTEE REPORTS  
Continuing Education Committee  
Oza presented the Continuing Education lists, dated February 9, 2023 (Attachment 1),  
and April 13, 2023 (Attachment 2).  
MOTION by Yehia, seconded by Sarkisian, to approve the Continuing Education list, as  
presented.  
A roll call vote was held: Yeas: Brewer, DeWitt, Fuller, Johnston, Kinney, McCants,  
Oza, Sarkisian, Siddiqui, Spangler, Strehl, Weber,  
Yehia, Thomas, Tseng  
Nays: None  
MOTION PREVAILED  
Board Review Panel  
Yehia provided an overview of the Health Professional Disciplinary Reform FY 2022  
Report to the Legislature. The board requested that the department send the letter to  
educators with the disciplinary statistics, as was done in 2022.  
Credentials Review  
No report.  
RDA Committee  
No report.  
RDH Committee  
No report.  
Rules Committee  
Ditschman stated that the draft rules were withdrawn to modify the language for the  
pediatric specialty oral examination. She stated that when MOAHR reviews them, they  
will determine if an additional hearing is needed. Ditschman explained that public  
comments received from board members, using their state issued email addresses, were  
rejected and therefore those changes will not be in the proposed draft that goes to JCAR.  
She stated that if board members wanted to make comments on future sets, they would  
need to use their personal/business email as a public citizen.  
Michigan Board of Dentistry  
Meeting Minutes  
April 13, 2023  
Page 4 of 7  
Johnston stated that the Michigan Dental Association had recently added a statement to  
their website that implicit bias training could be counted toward continuing education.  
Ditschman stated that the current and proposed rules seem to exclude implicit bias  
training from counting toward continuing education, but a discussion could be held during  
the rules discussion.  
PA 161 Update  
Erin Suddeth, RDH, BS, MPA, with MDHHS-Oral Health, reported that they currently have  
52 programs including 111 supervising dentists, 208 dental hygienists, and 139 dental  
assistants.  
Disciplinary Subcommittee  
Brewer provided a summary of the Disciplinary Subcommittee (DSC) Agenda.  
Ad Hoc Committee on Anesthesia  
No report.  
NEW BUSINESS  
Rules Discussion  
MOTION by Johnston, seconded by Spangler, to open the rules once the current set has  
promulgated.  
A voice vote followed.  
MOTION PREVAILED  
Ditschman read the current Dentistry continuing education rule from the set that was  
promulgated on April 26, 2021, that allows human trafficking training and opioid training  
to be used for continuing education and then states that credit for a continuing education  
program that is identical to a program an applicant has already earned credit for is  
prohibited.  
Discussion was held as to whether the Dentistry rule prohibited a licensee from using the  
implicit bias training to count as continuing education.  
Ditschman stated that the board can vote to clarify the current rule and allow the implicit  
bias training to be used towards continuing education. However, Ditschman stated that  
the proposed rule is clear that the board intended to not allow implicit bias training to be  
used for continuing education She can follow up to see if the change could be made at  
Michigan Board of Dentistry  
Meeting Minutes  
April 13, 2023  
Page 5 of 7  
this time in the rules process, but it was unlikely as this is a substantive change that would  
require another public hearing.  
Ditschman asked Neema Katibai with the Michigan Dental Association (MDA) if the MDA  
provided its direction based on contact with the department. Katibai stated that the  
request to the legislature for implicit bias training to be counted toward continuing  
education was made based on the current sets of rules. He clarified that the rules apply  
to all health professions, not just dentistry.  
MOTION by Siddiqui, seconded by Yehia, to allow implicit bias training to count toward  
continuing education.  
A roll call vote was held: Yeas: Brewer, Fuller, McCants, Oza, Siddiqui, Strehl, Yehia,  
Thomas, Tseng  
Nays: DeWitt, Kinney, Sarkisian, Spangler, Weber  
Abstain: Johnston  
MOTION PREVAILED  
Until the proposed rules are effective, implicit bias training may be used towards  
continuing education.  
Dental Student External Rotations Discussion  
Pursuant to several board member requests that the board discuss asking dental schools  
about external rotation, Ditschman presented a letter to the board about external rotations  
for dentists.  
Kinney and Weber stated that dental hygienists and dental assistants also participate in  
external rotations and wondered if the letter should be sent to them as well.  
Thomas requested that the list of questions in the letter include how the preceptors are  
trained and calibrated. It was also discussed that “private practice” be removed from the  
last question.  
The consensus of the board was to send the letter to two dental schools for preliminary  
information on dentists. If more information was needed, then schools with dental  
hygiene and dental assisting programs could be contacted. The board would like to see  
the responses at the August meeting.  
Master Resolution Review  
Ditschman provided an overview of the proposed addition to the Board of Dentistry Master  
Resolution regarding how to handle a continuing education waiver request when the  
Michigan Board of Dentistry  
Meeting Minutes  
April 13, 2023  
Page 6 of 7  
Board meeting scheduled to consider the request is canceled, through no fault of the  
licensee.  
MOTION by Sarkisian, seconded by Siddiqui, to approve the Board of Dentistry Master  
Resolution as presented and amended to include language that involves contact with the  
Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, or Chairperson’s designee, when handling a continuing  
education waiver request when the board meeting scheduled to consider the request is  
cancelled, through no fault of the licensee.  
Discussion was held.  
A roll call vote was held: Yeas: Brewer, DeWitt, Fuller, Johnston, Kinney, McCants,  
Oza, Sarkisian, Siddiqui, Spangler, Strehl, Weber,  
Yehia, Thomas, Tseng  
Nays: None  
MOTION PREVAILED  
Chair Report  
Tseng stated that Ellen Chambers, RDA, had been appointed to the board.  
Tseng stated that she and Thomas attended the CDCA-WREB-CITA annual session in  
January 2023 in Dallas, Texas. She stated that they attended the chair/co-chair meeting  
where discussions were held regarding a dental compact, how rules differ between states,  
and the expansion of the ADEX examination outside of the United States.  
Tseng asked that the department send out the annual letter to schools, providing  
disciplinary statistics.  
Department Update  
Ditschman stated that the bureau will hold the next board member training will be held  
later this summer, via Zoom. All board members are welcome to attend.  
PUBLIC COMMENT  
Sandy Sutton with MDHHS Oral Health, made a comment regarding the content of implicit  
bias training.  
ANNOUNCEMENTS  
The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held June 8, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at 611  
West Ottawa Street, Upper-Level Conference Center Room 3, Lansing, Michigan 48933.  
Michigan Board of Dentistry  
Meeting Minutes  
April 13, 2023  
Page 7 of 7  
ADJOURNMENT  
MOTION by Brewer, seconded by Yehia, to adjourn the meeting at 11:55 a.m.  
A voice vote followed.  
MOTION PREVAILED  
Minutes approved by the Board on:  
Prepared by:  
Stephanie Wysack, Board Support Technician  
Bureau of Professional Licensing  
April 14, 2023  
;