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To amend section 4715.39 of the Revised Code to allow | 1 |
a dental assistant to apply pit and fissure | 2 |
sealants under certain circumstances. | 3 |
Section 1. That section 4715.39 of the Revised Code be | 4 |
amended to read as follows: | 5 |
Sec. 4715.39. (A) The state dental board may define the | 6 |
duties that may be performed by dental assistants and other | 7 |
individuals designated by the board as qualified personnel. If | 8 |
defined, the duties shall be defined in rules adopted in | 9 |
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The rules may | 10 |
include training and practice standards for dental assistants and | 11 |
other qualified personnel. The standards may include examination | 12 |
and issuance of a certificate. If the board issues a certificate, | 13 |
the recipient shall display the certificate in a conspicuous | 14 |
location in any office in which the recipient is employed to | 15 |
perform the duties authorized by the certificate. | 16 |
(B) A dental assistant may polish the clinical crowns of | 17 |
teeth if all of the following requirements are met: | 18 |
(1) The dental assistant's polishing activities are limited | 19 |
to the use of a rubber cup attached to a slow-speed rotary dental | 20 |
hand piece to remove soft deposits that build up over time on the | 21 |
crowns of teeth. | 22 |
(2) The polishing is performed only after a dentist has | 23 |
evaluated the patient and any calculus detected on the teeth to be | 24 |
polished has been removed by a dentist or dental hygienist. | 25 |
(3) The dentist supervising the assistant supervises not more | 26 |
than two dental assistants engaging in polishing activities at any | 27 |
given time. | 28 |
(4) The dental assistant is certified by the dental assisting | 29 |
national board or the Ohio commission on dental assistant | 30 |
certification. | 31 |
(5) The dental assistant receives a certificate from the | 32 |
board authorizing the assistant to engage in the polishing | 33 |
activities. The board shall issue the certificate if the | 34 |
individual has successfully completed training in the polishing of | 35 |
clinical crowns through a program accredited by the commission on | 36 |
dental accreditation or equivalent training approved by the board. | 37 |
The training shall include courses in basic dental anatomy and | 38 |
infection control, followed by a course in coronal polishing that | 39 |
includes didactic, preclinical, and clinical training; any other | 40 |
training required by the board; and a skills assessment that | 41 |
includes successful completion of standardized testing. The board | 42 |
shall adopt rules pursuant to division (A) of this section | 43 |
establishing standards for approval of this training. | 44 |
(C) A dental assistant may apply pit and fissure sealants if | 45 |
all of the following requirements are met: | 46 |
(1) A dentist evaluates the patient and designates the teeth | 47 |
and surfaces that will benefit from the application of sealant on | 48 |
the day the application is to be performed. | 49 |
(2) The dental assistant is certified by the dental assisting | 50 |
national board or the Ohio commission on dental assistant | 51 |
certification. | 52 |
(3) The dental assistant has successfully completed a course | 53 |
in the application of sealants consisting of at least two hours of | 54 |
didactic instruction and six hours of clinical instruction through | 55 |
a program provided by an institution accredited by the American | 56 |
dental association commission on dental accreditation or a program | 57 |
provided by a sponsor of continuing education approved by the | 58 |
board. | 59 |
(4) The dentist supervising the assistant has observed the | 60 |
assistant successfully apply at least six sealants. | 61 |
(5) The dentist supervising the assistant checks and approves | 62 |
the application of all sealants placed by the assistant before the | 63 |
patient leaves the location where the sealant application | 64 |
procedure is performed. | 65 |
(D) Subject to this section and the applicable rules of the | 66 |
board, licensed dentists may assign to dental assistants and other | 67 |
qualified personnel dental procedures that do not require the | 68 |
professional competence or skill of the licensed dentist or dental | 69 |
hygienist as this section or the board by rule authorizes dental | 70 |
assistants and other qualified personnel to perform. The | 71 |
performance of dental procedures by dental assistants and other | 72 |
qualified personnel shall be under direct supervision and full | 73 |
responsibility of the licensed dentist. | 74 |
| 75 |
the state dental board or otherwise to do the following: | 76 |
(1) Authorize dental assistants or other qualified personnel | 77 |
to engage in the practice of dental hygiene as defined by sections | 78 |
4715.22 and 4715.23 of the Revised Code or to perform the duties | 79 |
of a dental hygienist, including the removal of calcarious | 80 |
deposits, dental cement, or accretions on the crowns and roots of | 81 |
teeth other than as authorized pursuant to this section; | 82 |
(2) Authorize the assignment of any of the following: | 83 |
(a) Diagnosis; | 84 |
(b) Treatment planning and prescription, including | 85 |
prescription for drugs and medicaments or authorization for | 86 |
restorative, prosthodontic, or orthodontic appliances; | 87 |
(c) Surgical procedures on hard or soft tissue of the oral | 88 |
cavity, or any other intraoral procedure that contributes to or | 89 |
results in an irremediable alteration of the oral anatomy; | 90 |
(d) The making of final impressions from which casts are made | 91 |
to construct any dental restoration. | 92 |
| 93 |
individual acting in the capacity of qualified personnel to | 94 |
perform any dental procedure that the assistant or other | 95 |
individual is not authorized by this section or by board rule to | 96 |
perform. No dental assistant or other individual acting in the | 97 |
capacity of qualified personnel shall perform any dental procedure | 98 |
other than in accordance with this section and any applicable | 99 |
board rule or any dental procedure that the assistant or other | 100 |
individual is not authorized by this section or by board rule to | 101 |
perform. | 102 |
Section 2. That existing section 4715.39 of the Revised Code | 103 |
is hereby repealed. | 104 |