What California prescribing and CURES rules matter for dental exam prep?

High-yield California rules for this topic

Prescribing — within scope and CURES

Prescribe only within dental scope — a prescription for a non-dental condition, a family favor, or convenience violates the Dental Practice Act even with flawless paperwork.¹ CURES: check within 24 hours (or the previous business day) before first prescribing, ordering, administering, or furnishing a Schedule II through IV controlled substance, then re-check at least every six months while it stays in the treatment plan; Schedule V is reportable when dispensed but needs no pre-prescribing check.^{2 3} Carve-outs: a 7-day nonrefillable supply for emergency-department discharges or specific surgical procedures, and Assembly Bill 82 (effective January 1, 2026) bars reporting testosterone or mifepristone to CURES.^{3 4} A CURES exemption is not an e-prescribing exemption — e-prescribing is the default under BPC §688, and paper prescribers must register with the Board of Pharmacy.⁵

Memorize it: "24-6 / 7-day / II-III-IV (not V) / No-Testosterone" — check 24 hours before and 6 months after; 7-day nonrefillable emergency exemption; II-IV checked but V excluded; AB 82 exempts testosterone reporting in 2026.

Opioid counseling, naloxone, MATE Act, opioids to minors

HSC §11158.1: before the first opioid in a course of treatment, counsel every patient (not just minors) on addiction risk, overdose risk, and the danger of mixing opioids with alcohol, benzodiazepines, or other CNS depressants.⁶ AB 2760 requires offering a naloxone prescription at 90 or more MME per day, with a concurrent benzodiazepine, or with increased overdose risk.⁶ For minors, HSC §11159.2 adds written counseling to the parent or guardian before the first opioid, covering addiction risk, depressant combinations, and safe disposal.⁶ Federally, controlled-substance prescribing requires a valid DEA registration plus the one-time 8-hour MATE Act training — separate from California's repeating opioid CE.²

Memorize it: "First-talk / 90-MME-or-benzo-naloxone / MATE-once / Minors-written" — first opioid requires counseling; naloxone offer at 90 MME or with a benzo; federal MATE is 8 hours one-time; minors need written counseling.

Footnotes

1. A15 California Business & Professions Code §§1680 and 1684.5 — exact seven-day report triggers, patient-of-record rules, and concurrent supervision. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=1680. ↩

2. A12 Department of Consumer Affairs CURES overview. https://www.dca.ca.gov/licensees/cures_update.shtml ↩ ↩²

3. A13 Department of Consumer Affairs CURES mandatory-consultation flyer and exemptions. https://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/cures_flyer.pdf ↩ ↩²

4. A60 Assembly Bill 82 (2025); HSC §11165(k) — CURES reporting exemptions for testosterone and mifepristone. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB82 ↩

5. A32 California Business & Professions Code §688 — electronic prescribing and exemptions. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=688. ↩

6. A24 California Health & Safety Code §11158.1 (opioid counseling), §11159.2 (counseling for minors), and AB 2760 (naloxone co-prescribing). https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&sectionNum=11158.1. ↩ ↩² ↩³