Board hears enforcement and licensing reports; staff flags data cleanup and rising CE audit failure rates

The Dental Hygiene Board of California on March 28 received updates on enforcement caseloads, licensing counts, examination results and continuing‑education (CE) audits.

Assistant Executive Officer Tiffany Moore, presenting her first enforcement report, said staff recorded complaint cases, investigative caseloads and citations but noted multiple data fields require correction in the prepared report. Moore told the board she will correct numbers and improve Breeze coding to make future statistics reliable. She reported an investigative caseload of 40 cases and described case‑age categories (majority 0–6 months, some cases over 24 months); she said older cases often reflect matters pending in other jurisdictions or with the Attorney General, which delays final resolution.

Licensing Manager Tracy Napper presented licensing and examination statistics: for the recent period the law and ethics exam had a roughly 74% pass rate (512 passed out of 694 reported), and RDHAP exams had a 93% pass rate. Napper also reported licensure population counts and flagged a cohort of delinquent licenses that could cancel if renewal is not completed by April 1.

On CE audits Napper reported that of 493 audits completed through Feb. 28, 278 passed and 207 failed; several failures reflect misunderstandings about allowable CE formats (for example, CPR practical requirements cannot be completed wholly online) or lapsed provider approvals. Board members urged stronger outreach to program directors and professional associations and recommended a short recorded guidance (asynchronous webinar) on CE and renewal rules. Staff said they will increase outreach and incorporate improvements into Breeze so that enforcement and licensing reports better reflect distinct complaint types (consumer vs. AG referrals), county distributions and citation categories.

The board and public asked for more granular future reporting — including breakdowns by county, complaint source and AG vs. consumer cases — and staff committed to deliver refined data and better reporting capabilities.