(a) The practice of dental hygiene includes dental hygiene assessment and development, planning, and implementation of a dental hygiene care plan. It also includes oral health education, counseling, and health screenings.

(b) The practice of dental hygiene does not include any of the following procedures:

(1) Diagnosis and comprehensive treatment planning.

(2) Placing, condensing, carving, or removal of permanent restorations.

(3) Surgery or cutting on hard and soft tissue including, but not limited to, the removal of teeth and the cutting and suturing of soft tissue.

(4) Prescribing medication.

(5) Administering local or general anesthesia or oral or parenteral conscious sedation, except for the administration of nitrous oxide and oxygen, whether administered alone or in combination with each other, or local anesthesia pursuant to Section 1909.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 31, Sec. 47. Effective January 1, 2009. Operative July 1, 2009, by Sec. 55 of Ch. 31.)