I oppose the proposed requirement of a jurisprudence exam every three years. I agree that there is a lack of understanding among dentists about the current Board of Dentistry regulations, but I believe the problem is the consequence of poor communication from the BOD rather than willful ignorance on the part of Virginia dentists. 

Within my group practice, we have made considerable effort to design and enforce our internal guidelines to meet or exceed the state regulations. In doing this, we found the written regulations were not clear as to how they should be implemented. In those situations we turned to the state board for clarification, and in every case, the board refused to offer any guidance in reading the vague language that they wrote. I find it troubling that the instincts of the state board is to punish Virginia dentists rather than improve its efforts to clarify and educate.

I think a reasonable compromise is to create a jurisprudence exam to be taken before a license is initially granted. This could be implemented along side a renewed effort to educate existing dentists. 

Tyler Perkinson DDS