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SUBSTITUTE
SENATE BILL 5322
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Passed
Legislature - 1997 Regular Session
State of Washington 55th
Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By
Read first time 03/05/97.
Removing
regulatory barriers to the provision of oral health care services to rural,
remote, and underserved populations.
AN
ACT Relating to removing regulatory barriers to the provision of oral health
care services to rural, remote, and underserved populations; amending RCW
18.29.050 and 18.29.056; and repealing 1993 c 323 s 6 (uncodified).
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
18.29.050 and 1971 ex.s. c 235 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Any
person licensed as a dental hygienist in this state may remove deposits and
stains from the surfaces of the teeth, may apply topical preventive or
prophylactic agents, may polish and smooth restorations, may perform root
planing and soft-tissue curettage, and may perform other dental operations and
services delegated to them by a licensed dentist: PROVIDED HOWEVER, That
licensed dental hygienists shall in no event perform the following dental
operations or services:
(1)
Any surgical removal of tissue of the oral cavity;
(2)
Any prescription of drugs or medications requiring the written order or
prescription of a licensed dentist or physician;
(3)
Any diagnosis for treatment or treatment planning; or
(4)
The taking of any impression of the teeth or jaw, or the relationships of the
teeth or jaws, for the purpose of fabricating any intra-oral restoration,
appliance, or prosthesis.
Such
licensed dental hygienists may perform dental operations and services only
under the supervision of a licensed dentist, and under such supervision may be
employed by hospitals, boards of education of public or private schools, county
boards, boards of health, or public or charitable institutions, or in dental
offices((: PROVIDED, That the number of hygienists so employed in any
dental office shall not exceed twice in number the licensed dentists practicing
therein)).
Sec.
2. RCW
18.29.056 and 1984 c 279 s 63 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Dental hygienists licensed under this chapter with two years' practical
clinical experience with a licensed dentist within the preceding five years may
be employed or retained by health care facilities to perform authorized dental
hygiene operations and services without dental supervision, limited to removal
of deposits and stains from the surfaces of the teeth, application of topical
preventive or prophylactic agents, polishing and smoothing restorations, and
performance of root planing and soft-tissue curettage, but shall not perform
injections of anesthetic agents, administration of nitrous oxide, or diagnosis
for dental treatment. The performance of dental hygiene operations and
services in health care facilities shall be limited to patients, students, and
residents of the facilities. For dental planning and dental treatment, dental
hygienists shall refer patients to licensed dentists.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, "health care facilities" are
limited to hospitals; nursing homes; home health agencies; group homes serving
the elderly, handicapped, and juveniles; state-operated institutions under the
jurisdiction of the department of social and health services or the department
of corrections; and federal, state, and local public health facilities,
state or federally funded community and migrant health centers, and tribal
clinics.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. 1993
c 323 s 6 (uncodified) is repealed.
