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Recent updatesLast verified March 24, 2026

What Changed in 2025-2026

Fast-changing California rules are where stale prep hurts the most. This page highlights updates and trap areas so you can study the current rule instead of an older shortcut.

Purpose

Collect the freshness-sensitive rule changes and stale-prep traps most likely to cause wrong answers for 2025-2026 exam prep.

2025 Changes To Know

  • Use the current 1/1/2025 Board duties table: Do not answer auxiliary questions from older screenshots or pre-2025 role charts. 1
  • DA infection-control timing changed: The 8-hour board-approved infection-control course belongs before exposure-risk BSDPs, not within a one-year grace period. 2
  • Coronal polishing became a current-table trap: For a DA, treat it as a course-required, direct-supervision lane. 1
  • Sedation and anesthesia prep changed with SB 1453: Use current permit names, staffing expectations, and adverse-event sensitivity rather than pre-2025 sedation shorthand. 3

2026 Changes To Know

  • California breach notice changed on January 1, 2026: SB 446 updated California's breach-notice rule to a 30-calendar-day deadline after discovery. If your prep still says only "without unreasonable delay," update it. 4
  • The old flat MICRA cap is stale: AB 35 replaced the old flat $250,000 noneconomic-cap answer with a rising schedule. For 2026 prep, do not answer from the old headline number. 5

Current Official Guidance Worth Re-Memorizing

  • CURES uses current 7-day nonrefillable exemption language: The official DCA flyer uses 7-day, not stale 5-day, wording in the emergency-department, surgical/procedural, and timely-access exception lanes. 6
  • Good Samaritan immunity is still a scene, not office concept: Do not use it to excuse ordinary office negligence in a scheduled care setting. 7

What To Purge From Old Prep

  • "California breach notice is just prompt / without unreasonable delay."
  • "DAs have a year to get the infection-control course."
  • "Coronal polishing is just an ordinary DA BSDP with no special hook."
  • "The current CURES emergency-style exemption is 5 days."
  • "MICRA is still a flat $250,000."
  • "Good Samaritan immunity covers routine office care if the dentist meant well."

Footnotes

Footnotes

  1. A6 2025 auxiliary duties and supervision table. https://www.dbc.ca.gov/formspubs/pub_permitted_duties.pdf ↩ ↩2

  2. A38 BPC section 1750 dental assistant definition, BSDP, and infection-control prerequisites. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=1750. ↩

  3. A20 SB 1453 alert for anesthesia and sedation changes effective 1/1/2025. https://www.dbc.ca.gov/formspubs/alert_sb_1453.pdf ↩

  4. A48 SB 446 and Civ. Code section 1798.82 California breach-notice update to a 30-calendar-day deadline effective 1/1/2026. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB446 ↩

  5. A56 AB 35 / MICRA noneconomic-damages schedule replacing the old flat $250,000 cap. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB35 ↩

  6. A13 DCA CURES mandatory-consultation flyer and exemptions. https://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/cures_flyer.pdf ↩

  7. A53 Good Samaritan immunity comparison under HSC section 1799.102 and BPC sections 2395 and 1627.5. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ ↩