Washington Dental Commission

The mandate of Washington Dental Commission is to protect the public's health and safety and to promote the welfare of the state by regulating the competency and quality of professional healthcare providers under its jurisdiction. The commission accomplishes this mandate through a variety of activities working with the Department of Health.

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Commission Information

Qualifications | Commissioner expectation | Time commitment

Description

The mandate of Washington Dental Commission is to protect the public's health and safety and to promote the welfare of the state by regulating the competency and quality of professional health care providers under its jurisdiction. The Dental Commission accomplishes this mandate through a variety of activities working with the Department of Health.

Dental Commission duties include:

establishing qualifications for minimal competency to grant or deny credentials of dentists, expanded function dental auxiliaries, dental assistants, and dental anesthesia assistants.
regulating the competency and quality of professional healthcare providers under its jurisdiction by establishing, monitoring and enforcing qualifications for credentials.
establishing and monitoring compliance with continuing education requirements.
ensuring consistent standards of practice.
developing continuing competency mechanisms.
assessing, investigating and making recommendations related to complaints against dentists, expanded function dental auxiliaries, dental assistants and dental anesthesia assistants, which may range from a notice of correction to license revocation.
serving as reviewing members on disciplinary cases and serving on disciplinary hearing panels.
serving as members of standing committees, when appointed.
developing rules, policies and procedures that promote the delivery of quality health care to state residents.

Qualifications

The Dental Commission is made up of 12 dentists, four dental therapists, two expanded function dental auxiliaries and three public members. All members must be citizens of the United States and must be Washington residents.

Dentist members of the commission must be licensed dentists in the active practice of dentistry for five years before appointment. Of the 12 dentists appointed to the commission, at least four must reside east of the summit of the Cascade Mountains. Expanded function dental auxiliary (EFDA) members of the commission must be licensed EFDAs.

Public member representatives may not:

be a member of any other healthcare licensing board or commission.
have a fiduciary obligation to a facility rendering healthcare services.
have a financial interest in the rendering of health services regulated by the commission.

Commissioner participation expectation guidelines

The following expectation guidelines are intended to serve as a reference for current members and for prospective appointees of the Dental Commission:

Attend regular commission meetings, scheduled for one day on a Friday every six to seven weeks. The Dental Commission establishes its annual meeting schedule in June for the following year. The typical time commitment is 20 hours per month which includes:
- business meetings
- disciplinary hearings
- committee meetings
- Dental Commission training retreat
- case and compliance review
- weekly disciplinary case authorizations
Dental Commission members may be appointed to standing committees. Committees will be selected during regularly scheduled business meetings. Committee meetings typically take place by webinar and last one to two hours. In-person committee meetings can be scheduled upon committee request.
Prepare for all meetings by reviewing materials sent one week in advance of the scheduled meeting date.
Participate on disciplinary panels that may meet by webinar or in person several times per year. Sometimes panels meet with short notice in order to respond to emergent situations to protect the public.
Disciplinary hearings are scheduled separately from regular meetings because of the number of cases that need to be heard. Disciplinary hearings are typically scheduled for one to three days. About 30 disciplinary hearings are scheduled annually, although the Dental Commission holds only one to four disciplinary hearings per year because of case settlements or continuances.
Assist newly appointed commission members in mentorship program as necessary.
Assist Department of Health program staff members by providing technical expertise and other assistance as required.

Total annual time commitment

Scheduled Business Meetings: Eight meeting days per year (64 hours per year)
Meeting Preparation to include case file reviews and compliance: Eleven to 12 hours per meeting (92 hours per year)
Weekly discipline panel meetings: Panel of 4 members meet every Friday by webinar. (48 hours per year)
Disciplinary Hearing Panels: Attend two one-day hearings per year (16 hours per year)
Committee Meetings: Each committee - Ten hours per year. A member may serve on more than one committee, which increases time commitment.
Routine commission communications – Eight hours per year

The average time commitment is 20 hours per month.

Regular Dental Commission business meetings and disciplinary panels are scheduled on a Friday, every six to seven weeks. Most Dental Commission meetings and disciplinary panels are held virtually. Time commitment could be increased depending on number of committees a member participates in, leadership roles, representation on national organizations, travel to and from meetings, and other commission related business.

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Commission Members

Name and term expiration date of members

Member	Term Expires
Sonia Pal, DMD, vice-chair	June 30, 2025
Joy McDaniel, DMD	June 30, 2025
McKinley Rainey, public member	June 30, 2025
Miryam Nossa, EFDA	June 30, 2025
Samantha Kofler, DDS	June 30, 2025
Evelyn Harry, EFDA	June 30, 2025
Bryan Swanson, DDS, chair	June 30, 2026
Tiffany Bass, DDS	June 30, 2026
Sarah Khan, DMD	June 30, 2026
Nisha Sharoff, DDS	June 30, 2026
Carolin Spice, public member	June 30, 2026
Rama Oskouian, DMD	June 30, 2027
Cheon Joo Yoon, DDS	June 30, 2027
Marlynne Fulton, public member	June 30, 2027
David Carsten, DDS	TBD

Commission Meetings

Meeting information

(subject to change)

Contact dental program staff members at 360-236-4893 to confirm dates.

2024 Meetings

Date and Location	Activity	Documents
December 6, 2024 Webinar and Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Room S130 7273 Linderson Way S.W. Tumwater, WA 98501-5414	Business Meeting	Agenda (PDF)
December 11, 2024 Webinar	Continuing Competency Committee Meeting	Agenda (PDF)

2025 Meetings

Date and Location	Activity	Documents
January 17, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
March 7, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
April 25, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
June 13, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
July 25, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
September 5, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
October 24, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting
December 5, 2025 To be determined	Business Meeting

Commission Meeting Minutes