New Jersey Dental Hygienists' Association

The Health Care Professional Responsibility and Reporting Enhancement Act requires that a criminal history record background check must be conducted for all health care professionals licensed or certified by the Division of Consumer Affairs.

Letters will be going out to all Active licensees to their address on record with the Board. If NJDHA members are concerned that their address may not be up-to-date they can go online and perform a “licensee search” which will show the city, state and zip code of the address on file. If their address is not accurate they can use the online Change of Address Form at the Board of Dentistry website to change it.

Beginning in April 2008, all actively licensed Dentists, Dental Hygienists, Registered Dental Assistants and Limited Registered Ortho Assistants who have never gone through a criminal history record background check for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, will begin the background check process.

“New” licenses (those issued in the past 4 or 5 years) who have already gone through the process with Sagem Morpho will NOT have to repeat it as their background check is already on file. The same holds true for those who may hold another license from the Division of Consumer Affairs. Those who have gone through criminal background checks for employment purposes (i.e. working is schools) WILL need to go through this again.

The background check process includes the following steps:

Step 1. A letter is sent to the licensee along with a Certification and Authorization form.

Step 2. The Certification and Authorization form must be completed and sent back to the Health Care Reporting Unit, P.O. Box 46019, Newark, NJ 07101.

Step 3. Once the Health Care Reporting Unit receives the completed Certification and Authorization form, a universal form and letter explaining how to proceed with the fingerprinting process will be mailed to the licensee.

Step 4. The licensee schedules an appointment to be fingerprinted by Sagem Morpho, Inc., the vendor under contract with New Jersey for digital fingerprinting, and assumes responsibility for the fee for the entire background check process.

Step 5. The licensee’s fingerprints are electronically forwarded to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) to conduct the criminal history background check.

If a licensee chooses not to go through the background check process, he or she will not be able to keep his or her license in an active status. If a licensee is in inactive status, he or she is not required to undergo a criminal history background check. However, in order to reactivate his or her license, the licensee will be required to undergo a criminal history background check.

For those that may have a criminal record which was not previously disclosed to the Board of Dentistry, they will want to organize any records they have regarding the incident. The initial form has space to report any previous records and supporting documentation can be sent with this form. The Board of Dentistry will review new records and, depending on the nature of the incident, may ask for additional information.

Please visit to view our Frequently Asked Questions regarding the entire criminal history background check process. You can also e-mail the Division at S1804@dca.lps.state.nj.us with any questions or concerns you may have about the criminal history background check process.

Upon return of the Certificate of Authorization, you will receive the following letter from Jonathan Eisenmenger, Executive Director, NJ Board of Dentistry, along with a Sagem Morpho form. Those of you, who live far too far out of state for Sagem Morpho to do a scan, will receive a fingerprint card.

New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 45:1-30 et seq.) requires that every person who possesses a license or certificate as a health care professional MUST undergo a Criminal History Record Background Check. An important part of this process is the recording of each individual’s fingerprints.

The Division of Consumer Affairs uses the Live-Scan Fingerprinting Service provided by Sagem Morpho, Inc., a private company under contract with the State, to digitally record your fingerprints. As a licensee or certified health care professional, please contact Sagem Morpho within twenty (20) days of the postmark on the envelope that held this letter, to begin the process. You must undergo the digital recording of your fingerprints for the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs even if your fingerprints have been recorded by another state or federal agency previously.

You are strongly encouraged to schedule your appointment with Sagem Morpho via the Web at www.bioapplicant.com/nj. It is the quickest and easiest way to schedule an appointment. Web scheduling is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Those who do not have Web access should call Sagem Morpho at the company’s toll-free telephone number, 1-877-503-5981 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon). The time to reach an operator may be lengthy due to the high call volumes. Sagem Morpho provides a toll-free TTY telephone number, 1-800-673-0353, for hearing-impaired licensees or applicants with a modem-equipped telephone. Spanish-speaking operators are available upon request.

At the time you schedule an appointment with Sagem Morpho, you will be required to provide certain identifying information, some of which is provided on the enclosed form. Please review the preprinted information on this form carefully. It contains the information that you previously provided to the Division of Consumer Affairs. If any of the documentation is incorrect, you must call the board or committee office directly. You should fill in the required personal information that is not preprinted on the form. It is important that you have the completed form available when scheduling an appointment with Sagem Morpho.

You must bring the enclosed form with you to show to the company’s fingerprint technician when having your fingerprints scanned. In addition to this form, you must bring valid identification which must be a government-issued identification with a photograph and it must include your name, address (home or employer) and date of birth. A passport or driver’s license with a photograph will meet this requirement.

The fee for this service is $70.25. If you are paying by check or credit card, payment will be required at the time that you schedule your appointment. Your account will be charged at that time. If you plan to pay by money order, please indicate this fact at the time that you schedule your appointment. If a scheduled appointment is to be canceled, you must do so by noon on the business day prior to your scheduled time (you must cancel by Saturday at noon for a Monday appointment). If you fail to cancel your scheduled appointment, you will forfeit the $11.00 portion of your fingerprint fee that is payable to Sagem Morpho.

Do not contact Sagem Morpho if you have questions or concerns about the Criminal History Record Background Check process. Please visit our Web site for further information at www.nj.gov/lps/ca/chbcfaq.htm or contact us via email at S1804@dca.lps.state.nj.us.

This letter and the attached form are intended only for your use. Do not photocopy and distribute the attached form because it contains information applicable only to you.

(L to R) NJDHA President Lauren Jaccodine, Linda Hecker and Marina Collado

We are currently tracking 90 bills with the help of our lobbyist Paul Bent. These bills include issues concerning health care, anti-smoking and education. One bill of interest that we have in the legislature is bill A-3087 to increase the membership of the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry. This bill would add a Registered Dental Assistant and an additional Registered Dental Hygienist to the State Board. We feel that the regulatory body should be representative of those that they license. Currently the State Board of Dentistry consists of 8 dentists, 2 public members and 1RDH.

In January 2005, bill A-2487 was signed into law increasing the continuing education requirements for dental hygienists to 20 hours every 2 years. This takes effect with the 2007 license renewal.

Students graduating in the first year of a biennial renewal period are required to earn 5 CE for that year and the full 10 in the second year.  The continuing education regulations are from section 13:30-5.2 (b) An individual who graduates from a program in dental hygiene in the first year of the biennial period shall complete five credits of continuing education for biennial renewal.  An individual who graduates from a program in dental hygiene in the second year of the biennial period shall be exempt from continuing education requirements for that biennial period.

Those seeking application for licensure need to undergo procedures for criminal background checks. Currently the Division of Consumer Affairs has begun fingerprinting Registered Nurses that are licensed in this state. They will not begin fingerprinting currently licensed dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants until 2008.

NJDHA, along with our lobbyist and members of the State Board of Dentistry, are working very hard and making great strides to expand our scope of practice to include local anesthesia administration by dental hygienists. In late January 2007, our lobbyist, Paul Bent, along with Russ Bent and NJDHA President/Legislative chair Lauren Jaccodine, met with members at the Division of Consumer Affairs to discuss this issue. At the March 7, 2007 Board of Dentistry meeting, the proposed regulations were presented and the Board has voted to move forward. We are waiting for the proposed regulations to be listed in The Register, where it will sit for 60 days for public comment. Any letters of support should be sent to the Board of Dentistry.

Through the efforts of NJDHA, registered dental hygienists and registered dental assistants in NJ can currently MONITOR nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation after it has been started by the dentist. A 7 hour didactic and 7 hour clinical course is required along with current CPR certification. See the Board of Dentistry website for the regulations and this website at Courses/Events for locations.

There has been some confusion with regard to the Continuing Education Refresher requirement for nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation monitoring.

3 hours of continuing education, above and beyond the 20 hours required for licensure renewal, is required every other renewal period for nitrous oxide/oxygen sedation monitoring.

Those who took the initial 14 hour course during January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2005 would be required to take the CE refresher during the January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009 renewal period.

Those who took the initial 14 hour course during January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007 would be required to take the CE refresher during the January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2011 renewal period.

At present, NJ has DIRECT SUPERVISION in private dental offices. The dentist MUST be on the premises at all times that the hygienist is working. General Supervision means that the dentist is aware of and authorizes the treatment to be performed but does NOT have to be on the premises at all times. This allows greater flexibility accommodating patients. Currently 42 states have general supervision. NJ is only 1 of the remaining 8 states that do not allow for general supervision. The Board of Dentistry is weighing pros and cons of general supervision for New Jersey hygienists. Dentists who support general supervision could write to the Board of Dentistry, PO Box 45005, Newark, NJ 07101.

In June 1994, ADHA adopted three key resolutions to create an advanced dental hygiene practitioner. This will impact the oral health of the public and address the severe oral health disparities plaguing millions across the U.S. In March 2006, ADHA hosted a Lobby Day in Washington, DC. 170 dental hygienists from all over the country came to Capitol Hill to spread the message about improving access to oral health care for all Americans to our legislators. 5 representatives from NJ were among those 170. The agenda for the day was to influence legislators to write the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in support of exploration of the ADHP. In December 2005, President Bush signed the Department of Health and Human Services fiscal year 2006 funding bill that was accompanied by a Senate Appropriations Committee report including language encouraging the HRSA to explore the creation of the ADHP.

According to the draft curriculum, this new health care professional would provide a certain level of care to the public along with the respective education required to fulfill these responsibilities. Those responsibilities would include, but not limited to, advanced preventive therapies, diagnosis, treatment such as restorative procedures, and appropriate referrals. The education required would be a master’s degree credential with no duplication of entry-level coursework for the RDH credential. At this point in time, the ADHP curriculum has moved into the second phase of development. A revised draft curriculum has been developed that includes a vision statement, background information, domains and competencies. Members are encouraged to provide feedback. Please visit the ADHA website to submit your comments.

Check out the BOD website for Board meeting dates, license renewal deadlines, change of address forms, application for licensure forms, minutes of their meetings and more.

www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/medical/dentistry.htm >>