1. (a) Public health dental hygiene practitioners may perform radiologic procedures in those settings set forth in § 33.205b(c) (relating to practice as a public health dental hygiene practitioner) without the supervision of a dentist. Public health dental hygiene practitioners shall take radiographs under this section in accordance with the following:

   1. (1) Within 30 days of taking a radiograph, the public health dental hygiene practitioner shall provide to the patient a copy of the radiograph and a referral to a dentist indicating the reason the radiograph was taken and any observations noted by the public health dental hygiene practitioner.
   2. (2) The public health dental hygiene practitioner shall instruct the patient to consult with the dentist as indicated on the referral form.
   3. (3) Upon presentation by the patient, the dentist shall perform an examina-tion of the patient, review the radiograph and report any diagnosis to the public health dental hygiene practitioner and the patient.
2. (b) Dental hygienists may perform radiologic procedures in any setting under the general supervision of a licensed dentist. For the purpose of this subsection, ‘‘general supervision’’ means supervision by a dentist who examines the patient, develops a dental treatment plan, authorizes the performance of the radiologic services to be performed within 1 year of the examination, and takes full professional responsibility for performance of the dental hygienist.
3. (c) Auxiliary personnel who have passed the radiologic procedure examination adopted by the Board may perform radiologic procedures on the premises of a dentist under the direct supervision of a dentist. The dentist shall be on the premises when a radiologic procedure is performed, but is not required to personally observe performance of the procedure.

Authority

The provisions of this § 33.302 issued under section 11.4 of The Dental Law (63 P. S. § 130e); amended under section 3(d), (j.2) and (o) of The Dental Law (63 P. S. § 122(d), (j.2) and (o)).

Source

The provisions of this § 33.302 adopted August 21, 1987, effective August 22, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 3477; amended June 23, 1995, effective June 24, 1995, 25 Pa.B. 2492; amended December 11, 2009, effective December 12, 2009, 39 Pa.B. 6982. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (311490).

Notes of Decisions

Ripeness

Petition for review of these regulations was dismissed as the association of dental hygienists’ allegations of direct and immediate harm did not establish the justiciability of a pre-enforcement challenge to this regulation. The association’s allegations of change in their work schedule, reduced availability of dental hygiene services, reduced income, possible unemployment and the uncertainty of the ongoing day-to-day operations of dental hygiene care are merely anticipatory, speculative and too remote to support a claim of direct and immediate harm. Pennsylvania Dental Hygienists’ Association v. State Board of Dentistry, 672 A.2d 414 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996).

Cross References

This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 33.205 (relating to practice as a dental hygienist); and 49 Pa. Code § 33.211 (relating to unprofessional conduct).