BILL REQ. #:  H-3608.1 

Prefiled 1/6/2006. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Health Care.

     AN ACT Relating to dental licensure; and amending RCW 18.32.030 and 18.32.215.

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 a Washington state-licensed dentist who is a member of a 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 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 18.32.215 and 2003 c 57 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     An applicant holding a valid license and currently engaged in practice in another state may be granted a license without examination required by this chapter, on the payment of any required fees, if the applicant is a graduate of a dental college, school, or dental department of an institution approved by the commission under RCW 18.32.040(1). The commission may also require the applicant to: (1) File with the commission documentation certifying the applicant is licensed to practice in another state; and (2) provide information as the commission deems necessary pertaining to the conditions and criteria of the Uniform Disciplinary Act, chapter 18.130 RCW, and to demonstrate to the commission a knowledge of Washington law pertaining to the practice of dentistry. Dentists applying for licensure without examination, who have graduated from dental school prior to the creation of the national board dental examination, are exempted from any requirement to take and pass this examination. "Currently engaged in practice" shall mean engaged in clinical practice no less than two of the last three years for a minimum of two hundred eighty-eight hours per year.