California Dental License Fees on the Rise

Effective July 1, 2014, the Dental Board of California (DBC) will begin collecting more money for initial licensure and biennial license renewal. The Office of Administrative Law approved regulatory changes to Section 1021 of the California Dental Practice Act to increase fees of the various licensure categories. For active licenses, the fee will go from $365 to the statutory cap of $450.

The DBC states that the fee increases are necessary to stay solvent, due to increased enforcement needs, which are not funded by the state, as well as other operating and administrative costs. However, the fees are expected to climb even higher. The DBC has sponsored Senate Bill 1416 (Block) which would increase the statutory cap on licensure fees, with a goal to increase the licensure fees in 2015 to $525.