(1) The department shall issue an initial limited license without the examination required by this chapter to any applicant who, as determined by the secretary:

(a) Holds a valid license in another state or Canadian province that allows a substantively equivalent scope of practice in subsection (3)(a) through (j) of this section;

(b) Is currently engaged in active practice in another state or Canadian province. For the purposes of this section, "active practice" means five hundred sixty hours of practice in the preceding twenty-four months;

(c) Files with the secretary documentation certifying that the applicant:

(i) Has graduated from an accredited dental hygiene school approved by the secretary;

(ii) Has successfully completed the dental hygiene national board examination; and

(iii) Is licensed to practice in another state or Canadian province;

(d) Provides information as the secretary deems necessary pertaining to the conditions and criteria of the uniform disciplinary act, chapter 18.130 RCW;

(e) Demonstrates to the secretary a knowledge of Washington state law pertaining to the practice of dental hygiene, including the administration of legend drugs;

(f) Pays any required fees; and

(g) Meets requirements for AIDS education.

(2) The term of the initial limited license issued under this section is eighteen months and it is renewable upon:

(a) Demonstration of successful passage of a substantively equivalent dental hygiene patient evaluation/prophylaxis examination;

(b) Demonstration of successful passage of a substantively equivalent local anesthesia examination; and

(c) Demonstration of didactic and clinical competency in the administration of nitrous oxide analgesia.

(3) A person practicing with an initial limited license granted under this section has the authority to perform hygiene procedures that are limited to:

(a) Oral inspection and measuring of periodontal pockets;

(b) Patient education in oral hygiene;

(c) Taking intra-oral and extra-oral radiographs;

(d) Applying topical preventive or prophylactic agents;

(e) Polishing and smoothing restorations;

(f) Oral prophylaxis and removal of deposits and stains from the surface of the teeth;

(g) Recording health histories;

(h) Taking and recording blood pressure and vital signs;

(i) Performing subgingival and supragingival scaling; and

(j) Performing root planing.

(4)(a) A person practicing with an initial limited license granted under this section may not perform the following dental hygiene procedures unless authorized in (b) or (c) of this subsection:

(i) Give injections of local anesthetic;

(ii) Place restorations into the cavity prepared by a licensed dentist and afterwards carve, contour, and adjust contacts and occlusion of the restoration;

(iii) Soft tissue curettage; or

(iv) Administer nitrous oxide/oxygen analgesia.

(b) A person licensed in another state or Canadian province who can demonstrate substantively equivalent licensing standards in the administration of local anesthetic may receive a temporary endorsement to administer local anesthesia. For purposes of the renewed limited license, this endorsement demonstrates the successful passage of the local anesthesia examination.

(c) A person licensed in another state or Canadian province who can demonstrate substantively equivalent licensing standards in restorative procedures may receive a temporary endorsement for restorative procedures.

(5)(a) A person practicing with a renewed limited license granted under this section may:

(i) Perform hygiene procedures as provided under subsection (3) of this section;

(ii) Give injections of local anesthetic;

(iii) Perform soft tissue curettage; and

(iv) Administer nitrous oxide/oxygen analgesia.

(b) A person practicing with a renewed limited license granted under this section may not place restorations into the cavity prepared by a licensed dentist and afterwards carve, contour, and adjust contacts and occlusion of the restoration.

[2015 c 120 § 2; 2006 c 66 § 1; 2004 c 262 § 3; 1993 c 323 § 2.]

NOTES: