.02 Eligibility.

A. To be eligible for Maryland Dent-Care Loan Assistance Repayment Program (MDC-LARP) repayment assistance, an individual:

(1) Shall be employed as a full-time dentist in Maryland;

(2) Shall demonstrate financial need;

(3) Shall have received a dental degree from a college or university in Maryland or from an accredited U.S. dental school;

(4) Shall have a valid unrestricted license to practice dentistry in Maryland at the time the service obligation begins;

(5) May not have breached an obligation for service to a federal, state, or local government entity;

(6) Shall have no unserved obligations for service to a federal, state, or local government, or to another entity, with the exception of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Primary Care Loans, Exceptional Financial Need Scholarships, and Financial Assistance for Disadvantaged Health Professions Students aid;

(7) Shall have outstanding eligible higher education loans;

(8) May not be in default on any eligible higher education loan; and

(9) Shall agree to provide services as provided in Regulation .07 of this chapter.

B. Service obligations shall be rendered at an eligible practice site, which is any federal, state, local, or private for-profit or nonprofit dental facility (including a solo, group, or incorporated private practice) that treats all persons and agrees to the statutory requirement that a minimum of 30 percent of the patients treated each year for 3 years are in a private or clinical setting serving Maryland medical assistance program recipients.

C. Loans eligible for repayment assistance are any loans for undergraduate or graduate dental professional study obtained for tuition, educational expenses, or living expenses from a college, university, government, commercial source, or an organization, institution, association, society, or corporation that is exempt from taxation under §501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. An MDC-LARP recipient shall provide documentation that commercial loans were used for payment of tuition, educational expenses, or living expenses.