On April 22, 2024, Governor Janet Mills signed LD 2137 making Maine the seventh state to enact the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. The compact was also enacted in Washington, Iowa, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Kansas. This marks a significant milestone in the development process because the compact legislation specifies that the compact will come into effect upon enactment of the seventh member state.
Occupational licensure compacts establish mutual recognition between member states for professional licensure, while ensuring the quality and safety of services and safeguarding state sovereignty. With an occupational licensure compact, those with licenses in compact member states can more quickly obtain authorization and get to work. These compacts are trending as an additional pathway to licensure. There are occupational licensure compacts for 16 different professions, including dentistry and dental hygiene.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has sought to support the development of interstate compacts as a mechanism for ensuring the professional licenses of military spouses are easily portable. In September 2020, DoD entered into a cooperative agreement with The Council of State Governments to fund the creation of new interstate compacts designed to strengthen occupational licensing portability. The advantage of licensure compacts to military spouses is a key benefit for states.
The American Dental Association (ADA) and the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) responded to the CSG RFA for compact development, made possible by the partnership with DoD. ADA and ADHA came together with CSG in 2021 to create a compact for dentists and dental hygienists. Model legislation for the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact was finalized in January 2023 following over a year of development and stakeholder review.
While the DDH Compact legislation specifies that the compact requires seven member states to become active, dentists and dental hygienists cannot yet practice via the compact in member states. The implementation process for the compact will take approximately 18-24 months. This means that practitioners in member states who have passed the compact legislation cannot begin applying for compact privileges until initial compact implementation is complete. Read more about the next steps for the DDH Compact.
The compact is governed by a commission made up of representatives from each member state. The Council of State Governments will lead the process of “standing up” the commission including convening the “charter member states” (commissioners from all states that have enacted the compact legislation at the time of the first commission meeting) to draft the initial rules and bylaws that will govern the compact. The member states will nominate one commissioner each to be a part of the compact commission. Several additional states are considering legislation to join the compact. Please view the map to see the other states currently considering the compact and links to each state’s legislation. Any additional state that joins will also nominate a commissioner who will be included in this process as well. The initial compact commission meeting will likely take place in the Fall of 2024.
Another significant step in the implementation process is the development of the compact’s shared data system. The commission is tasked with developing this data system which will communicate licensure information with each member state. Once the data system is in place, states will be onboarded to the system. It is expected that states will have varying timelines to onboard, which will be largely dependent on a state’s readiness, including existing licensure data infrastructure.
To learn more about the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact and its progress across the country, visit ddhcompact.org. For additional questions or requests for information, please contact dentalcompact@csg.org