Today BC’s Ministry of Health published notice of proposed amendments to the Health Professions Act regulations for oral health professions, paving the way for the creation of a new regulatory body that will oversee 15,000 oral health professionals in the province.
The proposed name of the new college is the British Columbia College of Oral Health Professionals, and the proposed date of amalgamation is September 1, 2022.
Once the notice period has ended, government can approve the amendments which would allow the creation of the new regulatory college for oral health professionals.
This would mean that certified dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental therapists, dentists, dental technicians and denturists would be regulated by the British Columbia College of Oral Health Professionals effective September 1, 2022.
The amalgamation partners are the College of Dental Hygienists of BC, the College of Dental Technicians of BC, the College of Dental Surgeons of BC, and the College of Denturists of BC.
How to provide feedback on the proposed regulatory amendments
You can read the Ministry’s notice of the proposed regulatory amendments here.
The Ministry’s notice period for these proposed regulatory amendments begins on April 4, 2022 and the Ministry has requested feedback as soon as possible. Please submit feedback on the proposed changes to PROREGADMIN@gov.bc.ca.
More information about the amalgamation project
You can read more about the amalgamation to create a single oral health regulatory college here. Questions about the amalgamation project can be submitted via our contact form and will be used to develop a list of frequently asked questions for registrants, patients and the public, and other stakeholders.
This new oral health regulatory college will be a single large regulatory body with ample resources and expertise in the regulation of all six types of oral health professionals. It will facilitate collaborative, team-based oral health care for British Columbians, and will provide a single source of contact for patients, the public, and the health professionals it regulates.
| Background The amalgamation to create a single oral health regulatory college requires the leadership of both the provincial government and the four colleges that currently regulate dental professionals. On the college side, the amalgamation project is being led by a Transition Steering Committee that includes two members from each of the four boards of the partner colleges.The concept to create a single regulatory body for oral health professionals was inspired by a 2020 report by the all-party Steering Committee on Modernization of Health Professional Regulation. One of the themes within the report was to reduce the number of health regulatory colleges to increase public protection through improved regulatory efficacy and efficiency. In Fall 2020, each of the four amalgamation partner boards approved a letter of intent to amalgamate to be delivered to BC’s Minister of Health. About the amalgamation partners College of Dental Hygienists of BC Regulates 4,328 dental hygienists Staff size: 13 Location: Victoria College of Dental Surgeons of BC Regulates 10,596 certified dental assistants, dental therapists and dentists Staff size: 60 Location: Vancouver College of Dental Technicians of BC Regulates 803 dental technicians and dental technician assistants Staff size: 2 Location: Vancouver College of Denturists of BC Regulates 267 denturists Staff size: 3 Location: Vancouver |