Kentucky has enacted a bill that would make several changes to the state’s Dental Practice Act.
House Bill 776 removes several provisions previously mandated by the state, including a requirement that all dentists and hygienists must graduate from a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation in order to practice in the state. It also lifts a prohibition on hygienists making final impressions in order to create dental restorations as well as a provision that prohibited dental assistants from performing hygiene services that require the use of instruments to remove calcareous deposits or accretions on the crowns and roots of teeth.
The new law allows hygienists to treat a patient without a supervising dentist being physically present as long as the patient has been seen by the supervising dentist within the last 11 months, up from seven months permitted under previous law. Hygienists are now also allowed to make radiographs upon written order of the supervising dentist without the dentist being physically present.
The bill also takes aim at corporate dentistry, prohibiting individuals who are not licensed to practice dentistry or entities that establish dental reimbursement rates from controlling clinical decisions.
Additionally, the bill includes several provisions related to the Kentucky Board of Dentistry. Among these changes is a new requirement for the board to affiliate with all testing organizations that administer licensure examinations, instead of only affiliating with the American Association of Dental Boards.
The bill was signed as an emergency order by Governor Andy Beshear April 13, putting it into effect immediately.
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