Colorado § 12-220-308 - Continuing education requirements - rules.

§ 12-220-308. Continuing education requirements - rules.

(1) As a condition of renewing, reactivating, or reinstating a license issued under this article 220, every dentist, dental therapist, and dental hygienist must obtain at least thirty hours of continuing education every two years to ensure patient safety and professional competency.

(2) The board may adopt rules establishing the basic requirements for continuing education, including the types of programs that qualify, exemptions for persons holding an inactive or retired license, requirements for courses designed to enhance clinical skills for certain licenses, and the manner by which dentists, dental therapists, and dental hygienists are to report compliance with the continuing education requirements.

(3) (a) The board may adopt rules requiring every dentist, dental therapist, and dental hygienist, as condition of renewing, reactivating, or reinstating a license issued under this article 220, to complete up to four credit hours of training per licensing cycle regarding:

(I) Best practices for opioid prescribing;

(II) Best practices for benzodiazepine prescribing;

(III) Recognition of substance use disorders;

(IV) Referral of patients with suspected substance use disorders for treatment; and

(V) The use of the electronic prescription drug monitoring program created in part 4 of article 280 of this title 12.

(b) Regardless of whether the board adopts rules to require training pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section, if a licensed dentist, dental therapist, or dental hygienist completes training regarding opioid prescriber competency, the board shall count up to four hours of such training toward the licensee's continuing education required by subsection (1) of this section.

Source: L. 2020: Entire article amended with relocations, (HB 20-1056), ch. 64, p. 242, § 1, effective September 14. L. 2022: Entire section amended, (SB 22-219), ch. 381, p. 2720, § 21, effective January 1, 2023. L. 2026: (3) added, (SB 26-138), ch. 308, p. 1763, § 3, effective August 12.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-220-145 as it existed prior to 2020.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 22-219, see section 1 of chapter 381, Session Laws of Colorado 2022. For the legislative declaration in SB 26-138, see section 1 of chapter 308, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.