BILL REQ. #:  H-2307.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/04/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to dental health services; amending RCW 18.32.030 and 18.32.040; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 18.32.030 and 2003 c 282 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The following practices, acts, and operations are excepted from the operation of the provisions of this chapter:
     (1) The rendering of dental relief in emergency cases in the practice of his or her profession by a physician or surgeon, licensed as such and registered under the laws of this state, unless the physician or surgeon undertakes to or does reproduce lost parts of the human teeth in the mouth or to restore or to replace in the human mouth lost or missing teeth;
     (2) The practice of dentistry in the discharge of official duties by dentists in the United States federal services on federal reservations, including but not limited to the armed services, coast guard, public health service, veterans' bureau, or bureau of Indian affairs;
     (3) Dental schools or colleges approved under RCW 18.32.040, and the practice of dentistry by students in accredited dental schools or colleges approved by the commission, when acting under the direction and supervision of Washington state-licensed dental school faculty;
     (4) The practice of dentistry by licensed dentists of other states or countries while appearing as clinicians at meetings of the Washington state dental association, or component parts thereof, or at meetings sanctioned by them, or other groups approved by the commission;
     (5) The use of roentgen and other rays for making radiographs or similar records of dental or oral tissues, under the supervision of a licensed dentist or physician;
     (6) The making, repairing, altering, or supplying of artificial restorations, substitutions, appliances, or materials for the correction of disease, loss, deformity, malposition, dislocation, fracture, injury to the jaws, teeth, lips, gums, cheeks, palate, or associated tissues or parts; providing the same are made, repaired, altered, or supplied pursuant to the written instructions and order of a licensed dentist which may be accompanied by casts, models, or impressions furnished by the dentist, and the prescriptions shall be retained and filed for a period of not less than three years and shall be available to and subject to the examination of the secretary or the secretary's authorized representatives;
     (7) The removal of deposits and stains from the surfaces of the teeth, the application of topical preventative or prophylactic agents, and the polishing and smoothing of restorations, when performed or prescribed by a dental hygienist licensed under the laws of this state;
     (8) A qualified and licensed physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon extracting teeth or performing oral surgery pursuant to the scope of practice under chapter 18.71 or 18.57 RCW;
     (9) The practice of dentistry by individuals in a postdoctoral dental residency program as provided under RCW 18.32.040 for the duration of the program;
     (10) The performing of dental operations or services by persons not licensed under this chapter when performed under the supervision of a licensed dentist: PROVIDED HOWEVER, That such nonlicensed person shall in no event perform the following dental operations or services unless permitted to be performed by the person under this chapter or chapters 18.29, 18.57, 18.71, and 18.79 RCW as it applies to registered nurses and advanced registered nurse practitioners:
     (a) Any removal of or addition to the hard or soft tissue of the oral cavity;
     (b) Any diagnosis of or prescription for treatment of disease, pain, deformity, deficiency, injury, or physical condition of the human teeth or jaws, or adjacent structure;
     (c) Any administration of general or injected local anaesthetic of any nature in connection with a dental operation, including intravenous sedation;
     (d) Any oral prophylaxis;
     (e) The taking of any impressions 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.

Sec. 2   RCW 18.32.040 and 1994 sp.s. c 9 s 211 are each amended to read as follows:
     The commission shall require that every applicant for a license to practice dentistry shall:
     (1) Present satisfactory evidence of graduation from a dental college, school, or dental department of an institution approved by the commission;
     (2) Submit, for the files of the commission, a recent picture duly identified and attested; and
     (3)(a) Pass an examination prepared or approved by and administered under the direction of the commission. The dentistry licensing examination shall consist of practical and written tests upon such subjects and of such scope as the commission determines. ((The commission may accept, in lieu of all or part of a written examination, a certificate granted by a national or regional testing organization approved by the commission.)) The commission shall set the standards for passing the examination. The secretary shall keep on file the examination papers and records of examination for at least one year. This file shall be open for inspection by the applicant or the applicant's agent unless the disclosure will compromise the examination process as determined by the commission or is exempted from disclosure under RCW 42.17.250 through 42.17.340.
     (b) The commission may accept, in lieu of all or part of the written examination required in (a) of this subsection, a certificate granted by a national or regional testing organization approved by the commission.
     (c) The commission may accept, in lieu of the practical examination required in (a) of this subsection, proof that an applicant has satisfactorily completed a postdoctoral dental residency program approved by the commission, of at least one year's duration, in a community health clinic that serves predominantly low-income patients or is located in a dental care health professional shortage area in this state, and that includes an outcome assessment evaluation assessing the resident's competence to practice dentistry. The commission shall develop criteria for community clinics to use when sponsoring students in a residency program under this subsection, including guidelines for the proper supervision of the resident and measuring the resident's competence to practice dentistry.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2005, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.