MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services
By: Representatives Massengill, Sykes
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 73-9-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE LICENSED DENTAL HYGIENISTS TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO PATIENTS UNDER THE GENERAL SUPERVISION OF LICENSED DENTISTS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS; TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; TO CLARIFY THAT DENTAL ASSISTANTS SHALL CONTINUE TO PRACTICE ONLY UNDER THE DIRECT SUPERVISION OF A LICENSED DENTIST; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 73-9-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
73-9-5. (1) For the
purpose of this chapter, a dental hygienist * * * is an individual who has * * * graduated
from a dental hygiene program accredited by the American Dental Association's
Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) and is licensed by the State Board of
Dental Examiners to provide, as an auxiliary to the dentist, preventive
educational and therapeutic services including the removal of all hard and soft
deposits to the depth of the gingival sulcus, polishing natural and restored
surfaces of teeth, performing clinical, photographic, radiographic, and
periodontal examination and documentation of teeth and surrounding tissues, for
diagnosis by the dentist, and performing other procedures that may be delegated
by the dentist, under the supervision of a licensed dentist.
(2) * * * No
person shall practice dental hygiene in a manner that is separate or
independent from a supervising dentist, or establish or maintain an office or a
practice that is primarily devoted to the provision of dental hygiene services.
(3) * * * Under the
general supervision of a licensed dentist, a dental hygienist may provide to
patients, for not more than fifteen (15) consecutive business days, all other
dental hygiene services not otherwise limited to the direct supervision of a
licensed dentist by the rules adopted by the board, if all of the following
requirements are met:
(a) The dental hygienist has at least sixteen hundred (1600) hours, one (1) year, full-time, or an equivalent amount of experience practicing dental hygiene;
(b) The dental hygienist complies with written protocols for emergencies that the supervising dentist establishes;
(c) The supervising dentist examined the patient not more than eleven (11) months before the date that the dental hygienist provides the dental hygiene services;
(d) The dental hygienist provides dental hygiene services to the patient in accordance with a written treatment plan developed by the supervising dentist for the patient;
(e) The patient is notified in advance of the appointment that the supervising dentist will be absent from the location and that the dental hygienist cannot diagnose the patient's dental health care status; and
(f) The dental hygienist provides to the State Board of Dental Examiners proof of current professional liability insurance coverage.
(4) For the purpose of this chapter, the work of dental assistants while working in the office of a regularly licensed and registered dentist shall at all times be under the direct supervision of the dentist, such supervision to be defined by the board as set forth in its rules and regulations.
(5) Dental hygienists in the employ of the State Board of Health or public school boards shall be limited to only performing oral hygiene instruction and screening when under the general supervision and direction of regularly licensed and registered dentists. Dental hygienists recognized by the Board of Dental Examiners when making public demonstrations of dental hygiene for educational purposes shall be under the general supervision and direction of regularly licensed and registered dentists.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.