A. 1. The State Department of Health shall administer the Oklahoma Dental Loan Repayment Program.

2. The Program, depending upon available funding, shall provide educational loan repayment assistance for up to a total of twenty-five full-time equivalent Oklahoma licensed dentists per year, including new and continuing contract renewable participants.

3. Each award shall be for a contracted period and shall be distributed to the participant by drafts made payable to the participant and the appropriate loan agency in equal monthly disbursements, not to exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per year for a maximum five-year period. Prior to any disbursement, the Department shall certify and properly review monthly reports submitted by the participating dentist detailing performance of activities in accordance with the Oklahoma Dental Loan Repayment Act.

4. At the conclusion of the minimum service obligation, the Department shall review the performance in the Program of the participating dentist and determine whether an award may be granted for an additional period not to exceed a total participation in the Program of five (5) years pursuant to rules promulgated by the Department.

B. Any dentist entering the Program each year as a nonfaculty participant shall agree to provide dental care and services to Medicaid recipients as authorized by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. The Department shall be responsible for ensuring that at least thirty percent (30%) of the patients treated by the dentist will be Medicaid recipients.

1. Any general practice dentist entering the Program each year as a nonfaculty participant shall agree to provide dental care and services in a designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Area (DHPSA) of this state.

2. Any dentist licensed to practice as a Pediatric Dentistry Specialist as defined by the State Dental Act or any dentist practicing in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), FQHC look-alike, county health department, or city-county health department may be exempt from the requirement to practice in a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area (DHPSA).

C. A dentist entering the Program as a faculty participant shall agree to teach at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. In the event there are no appropriate faculty applicants, the Program may award additional nonfaculty dentists.

D. A dentist shall be eligible to participate in the Program if the dentist:

1. Is a new dental school graduate. Preference will be given to graduates of the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry;

2. Is licensed to practice dentistry in Oklahoma; and

3. Has demonstrated financial need.

E. The dentist shall execute a contract with the Department to provide dental services pursuant to the terms of the contract and in accordance with rules promulgated by the Department.

F. If the dentist does not fulfill the service obligation, the Department may collect from the participant the entire amount of loan payments made under the Program plus interest.

G. The Department shall present a report on the operation of the Program to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate within one (1) month of the beginning of each regular session of the Legislature, including but not limited to the progress made in accomplishing the goal of the Program.

Added by Laws 2006, c. 237, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2006. Amended by Laws 2012, c. 182, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2012; Laws 2014, c. 165, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2014.