BILL REQ. #:  S-0798.1 

Read first time 01/16/2007.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to dental hygiene; and amending RCW 18.29.056 and 18.29.220.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 18.29.056 and 1997 c 37 s 2 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; centers where seniors congregate; home health agencies; group homes serving the elderly, ((handicapped)) individuals with disabilities, 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.

Sec. 2   RCW 18.29.220 and 2001 c 93 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) For low-income, rural, and other at-risk populations and in coordination with local public health jurisdictions and local oral health coalitions, a dental hygienist licensed in this state as of April 19, 2001, may assess for and apply sealants and apply fluoride varnishes in community-based sealant programs carried out in schools without attending the department's school sealant endorsement program.
     (2) For low-income, rural, and other at-risk populations and in coordination with local public health jurisdictions and local oral health coalitions, dental hygienists who are school sealant endorsed under RCW 43.70.650 may assess for and apply sealants and fluoride varnishes, and may remove deposits and stains from the surfaces of teeth, in community-based sealant programs carried out in schools.