Subd. 1. Dental hygienists.

Any licensed dentist, public institution, or school authority may obtain services from a licensed dental hygienist. Such licensed dental hygienist may provide those services defined in section 150A.05, subdivision 1a. Such services shall not include the establishment of a final diagnosis or treatment plan for a dental patient. Such services shall be provided under supervision of a licensed dentist. Any licensed dentist who shall permit any dental service by a dental hygienist other than those authorized by the Board of Dentistry, shall be deemed to be violating the provisions of sections 150A.01 to 150A.12, and any such unauthorized dental service by a dental hygienist shall constitute a violation of sections 150A.01 to 150A.12.

Subd. 1a. Limited authorization for dental hygienists.

1. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision 1, a dental hygienist licensed under this chapter may be employed or retained by a health care facility, program, or nonprofit organization to perform dental hygiene services described under paragraph (b) without the patient first being examined by a licensed dentist if the dental hygienist:

   1. (1) has been engaged in the active practice of clinical dental hygiene for not less than 2,400 hours in the past 18 months or a career total of 3,000 hours, including a minimum of 200 hours of clinical practice in two of the past three years;
   2. (2) has entered into a collaborative agreement with a licensed dentist that designates authorization for the services provided by the dental hygienist;
   3. (3) has documented participation in courses in infection control and medical emergencies within each continuing education cycle; and
   4. (4) maintains current certification in advanced or basic cardiac life support as recognized by the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, or another agency that is equivalent to the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.

2. (b) The dental hygiene services authorized to be performed by a dental hygienist under this subdivision are limited to:

   1. (1) oral health promotion and disease prevention education;
   2. (2) removal of deposits and stains from the surfaces of the teeth;
   3. (3) application of topical preventive or prophylactic agents, including fluoride varnishes and pit and fissure sealants;
   4. (4) polishing and smoothing restorations;
   5. (5) removal of marginal overhangs;
   6. (6) performance of preliminary charting;
   7. (7) taking of radiographs; and

   8. (8) performance of scaling and root planing.

      The dental hygienist may administer injections of local anesthetic agents or nitrous oxide inhalation analgesia as specifically delegated in the collaborative agreement with a licensed dentist. The dentist need not first examine the patient or be present. If the patient is considered medically compromised, the collaborative dentist shall review the patient record, including the medical history, prior to the provision of these services. Collaborating dental hygienists may work with unregistered and registered dental assistants who may only perform duties for which registration is not required. The performance of dental hygiene services in a health care facility, program, or nonprofit organization as authorized under this subdivision is limited to patients, students, and residents of the facility, program, or organization.

3. (c) A collaborating dentist must be licensed under this chapter and may enter into a collaborative agreement with no more than four dental hygienists unless otherwise authorized by the board. The board shall develop parameters and a process for obtaining authorization to collaborate with more than four dental hygienists. The collaborative agreement must include:

   1. (1) consideration for medically compromised patients and medical conditions for which a dental evaluation and treatment plan must occur prior to the provision of dental hygiene services;
   2. (2) age- and procedure-specific standard collaborative practice protocols, including recommended intervals for the performance of dental hygiene services and a period of time in which an examination by a dentist should occur;
   3. (3) copies of consent to treatment form provided to the patient by the dental hygienist;
   4. (4) specific protocols for the placement of pit and fissure sealants and requirements for follow-up care to assure the efficacy of the sealants after application; and

   5. (5) a procedure for creating and maintaining dental records for the patients that are treated by the dental hygienist. This procedure must specify where these records are to be located.

      The collaborative agreement must be signed and maintained by the dentist, the dental hygienist, and the facility, program, or organization; must be reviewed annually by the collaborating dentist and dental hygienist; and must be made available to the board upon request.

4. (d) Before performing any services authorized under this subdivision, a dental hygienist must provide the patient with a consent to treatment form which must include a statement advising the patient that the dental hygiene services provided are not a substitute for a dental examination by a licensed dentist. If the dental hygienist makes any referrals to the patient for further dental procedures, the dental hygienist must fill out a referral form and provide a copy of the form to the collaborating dentist.
5. (e) For the purposes of this subdivision, a "health care facility, program, or nonprofit organization" is limited to a hospital; nursing home; home health agency; group home serving the elderly, disabled, or juveniles; state-operated facility licensed by the commissioner of human services or the commissioner of corrections; and federal, state, or local public health facility, community clinic, tribal clinic, school authority, Head Start program, or nonprofit organization that serves individuals who are uninsured or who are Minnesota health care public program recipients.
6. (f) For purposes of this subdivision, a "collaborative agreement" means a written agreement with a licensed dentist who authorizes and accepts responsibility for the services performed by the dental hygienist. The services authorized under this subdivision and the collaborative agreement may be performed without the presence of a licensed dentist and may be performed at a location other than the usual place of practice of the dentist or dental hygienist and without a dentist's diagnosis and treatment plan, unless specified in the collaborative agreement.

Subd. 2. Dental assistants.

Every licensed dentist who uses the services of any unlicensed person for the purpose of assistance in the practice of dentistry shall be responsible for the acts of such unlicensed person while engaged in such assistance. Such dentist shall permit such unlicensed assistant to perform only those acts which are authorized to be delegated to unlicensed assistants by the Board of Dentistry. Such acts shall be performed under supervision of a licensed dentist. The board may permit differing levels of dental assistance based upon recognized educational standards, approved by the board, for the training of dental assistants. The board may also define by rule the scope of practice of registered and nonregistered dental assistants. The board by rule may require continuing education for differing levels of dental assistants, as a condition to their registration or authority to perform their authorized duties. Any licensed dentist who shall permit such unlicensed assistant to perform any dental service other than that authorized by the board shall be deemed to be enabling an unlicensed person to practice dentistry, and commission of such an act by such unlicensed assistant shall constitute a violation of sections 150A.01 to 150A.12.

Subd. 3. Dental technicians.

Every licensed dentist who uses the services of any unlicensed person, other than under the dentist's supervision and within such dentist's own office, for the purpose of constructing, altering, repairing or duplicating any denture, partial denture, crown, bridge, splint, orthodontic, prosthetic or other dental appliance, shall be required to furnish such unlicensed person with a written work order in such form as shall be prescribed by the rules of the board; said work order shall be made in duplicate form, a duplicate copy to be retained in a permanent file in the dentist's office for a period of two years, and the original to be retained in a permanent file for a period of two years by such unlicensed person in that person's place of business. Such permanent file of work orders to be kept by such dentist or by such unlicensed person shall be open to inspection at any reasonable time by the board or its duly constituted agent.

Subd. 4. Restorative procedures.

1. (a) Notwithstanding subdivisions 1, 1a, and 2, a licensed dental hygienist or a registered dental assistant may perform the following restorative procedures:

   1. (1) place, contour, and adjust amalgam restorations;
   2. (2) place, contour, and adjust glass ionomer;
   3. (3) adapt and cement stainless steel crowns; and
   4. (4) place, contour, and adjust class I and class V supragingival composite restorations where the margins are entirely within the enamel.

2. (b) The restorative procedures described in paragraph (a) may be performed only if:

   1. (1) the licensed dental hygienist or the registered dental assistant has completed a board-approved course on the specific procedures;
   2. (2) the board-approved course includes a component that sufficiently prepares the dental hygienist or registered dental assistant to adjust the occlusion on the newly placed restoration;
   3. (3) a licensed dentist has authorized the procedure to be performed; and
   4. (4) a licensed dentist is available in the clinic while the procedure is being performed.
3. (c) The dental faculty who teaches the educators of the board-approved courses specified in paragraph (b) must have prior experience teaching these procedures in an accredited dental education program.