The Medication Access and Training Expansion Act, or MATE Act, was included in the omnibus spending bill that passed Congress at the end of 2022. The new law requires dentists to complete eight hours of training before receiving or renewing a Drug Enforcement Administration registration.

The ADA successfully advocated for Congress to amend certain provisions of the MATE Act to comport with ADA policy. This included prompting lawmakers to remove a requirement from the original bill that meant dentists would have to complete three hours of specialized training to safely prescribe buprenorphine, which is outside the scope of dental practice.

The MATE Act was also amended to allow:

• Dentists to apply continuing education credits accepted for state licensure towards their federally required training, as well as courses taken through ADA CERP providers.
• New dentists who are less than five years out of dental school to use their dental school courses towards the federally required training.

For more information on all the ADA’s advocacy efforts, visit ADA.org/Advocacy.