(1) The board shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A relating to dental hygienists. The administrative regulations may include at a minimum the classification of and licensure of dental hygienists, by examination or credentials, general supervision privileges, anesthesia registration, retirement of a license, reinstatement of a license, and charity licenses.
(2) Renewal programs shall be organized to include continuing education approved by the board.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 313.040

  • Board: means the Kentucky Board of Dentistry. See Kentucky Statutes 313.010
  • Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
  • Company: may extend and be applied to any corporation, company, person, partnership, joint stock company, or association. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Corporation: may extend and be applied to any corporation, company, partnership, joint stock company, or association. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Dental hygiene: means the treatment of the oral cavity, including but not limited to dental hygiene assessment or screening, scaling and root planing, nonsurgical therapy, removing calcareous deposits, removing accumulated accretion from beneath the free gingival margin, cavity preventive procedures, periodontal procedures that require administering antimicrobial agents along with other general dentistry activities outlined in the treatment care plan and not prohibited by this chapter or by administrative regulation promulgated by the board. See Kentucky Statutes 313.010
  • Dental hygienist: means any person who has graduated from a CODA accredited dental hygiene program at an institute of higher learning and has been credentialed as a "Registered Dental Hygienist". See Kentucky Statutes 313.010
  • Dentist: means any person who has graduated from a Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) accredited dental school and has been conferred with the degree of "Doctor of Medical Dentistry" (D. See Kentucky Statutes 313.010
  • Dentistry: means the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, or surgical, nonsurgical, or related treatment of diseases, disorders, or conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area, or the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body provided by a dentist within the scope of his or her education, training, and experience and in accordance with the ethics of the profession and applicable law. See Kentucky Statutes 313.010
  • Treatment: when used in a criminal justice context, means targeted interventions
    that focus on criminal risk factors in order to reduce the likelihood of criminal behavior. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

(3) A licensed dental hygienist shall practice under the supervision, order, control, and full responsibility of a dentist licensed under this chapter and may practice:
(a) In a dental office, public or private school, health care facility, or government institution with a dentist on staff;
(b) Without the physical presence of a supervising dentist as provided in administrative regulations promulgated pursuant to subsections (6), (7), and (8) of this section; or
(c) Without a supervising dentist if providing screening services in accordance with subsection (9) of this section.
(4) It shall be unlawful for a person or corporation to practice dental hygiene in a manner that is separate or independent from the dental practice of a supervising dentist or to establish or maintain an office or practice that is primarily devoted to the provision of dental hygiene services.
(5) A dental hygienist may be employed by the supervising dentist or under contract with a dentist licensed under this chapter who is one (1) of the following:
(a) The employer of the supervising dentist;
(b) A shareholder in a professional association formed under KRS § 274.015 of which the supervising dentist is a shareholder;
(c) A member or manager of a limited liability company formed under KRS
275.005 of which the supervising dentist is a member or manager;
(d) A shareholder in a corporation formed under KRS Chapter 271B of which the supervising dentist is a shareholder;
(e) A partner or employee of a partnership of which the supervising dentist is a partner or employee; or
(f) A government entity that employs the dental hygienist to provide dental hygiene services in a public school in connection with other programs the government entity administers.
(6) A dental hygienist may provide the following procedures in a volunteer community health setting without the supervision of a dentist:
(a) Dental health education; (b) Nutritional counseling;
(c) Preparing a generalized oral screening with subsequent referral to a dentist; (d) Applying fluoride on patients;
(e) Demonstration of oral hygiene technique; and
(f) Sealants.
(7) (a) A dental hygienist may provide, for not more than fifteen (15) consecutive full business days, dental hygiene services to a patient when the supervising dentist is not physically present at the location at which the services are provided if all the following requirements are met:
1. The dental hygienist has at least two (2) years with a minimum of three thousand (3,000) hours of experience in the practice of dental hygiene;
2. The dental hygienist has successfully completed a course approved by the board in the identification and prevention of potential medical emergencies with reregistration in this course every two (2) years;
3. The dental hygienist complies with written protocols for emergencies the supervising dentist establishes;
4. The dental hygienist does not examine or provide dental health services to a patient who has not been examined by the supervising dentist within the previous seven (7) months. The supervising dentist shall have completed and evaluated a medical and dental history of the patient and shall have placed a written order for treatment in the patient’s file. The board shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to determine guidelines for the written order; and
5. A patient is notified in advance of an appointment for dental hygiene services when the supervising dentist will be absent from the location. The patient shall be required to sign an informed consent form, prior to treatment by the hygienist, acknowledging the dentist’s absence.
(b) The board shall promulgate administrative regulations to determine procedures the dental hygienist shall not be allowed to perform while the supervising dentist is absent from the work site.
(8) A dental hygienist licensed by the board may practice as a public health hygienist and may provide dental hygiene services if:
(a) The services are provided as part of a dental health program;
(b) The program for which the hygienist works is operated through the
Department for Public Health or a governing board of health; and
(c) The hygienist performs only accepted standardized protocols which are contained within the scope of practice of dental hygiene and which are reviewed and approved by the Board of Dentistry and either the Department for Public Health or the dentist member of the governing board of health, as set out in administrative regulation.
(9) A dental hygienist may provide screening services in any setting without the supervision of a dentist if:
(a) The screening is conducted to fulfill the requirements of KRS § 156.160(1)(j);
and
(b) Patients are informed that the service being provided is a screening and that
only a dentist is licensed to make a definitive diagnosis of the need for dental care.
Effective: July 12, 2012
History: Amended 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 27, sec. 3, effective July 12, 2012. — Repealed and reenacted 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 7, effective July 15, 2010. — Amended
1990 Ky. Acts ch. 443, sec. 18, effective July 13, 1990. — Amended 1970 Ky. Acts ch. 120, sec. 6. — Amended 1964 Ky. Acts ch. 12, sec. 3. — Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. secs. 2636-3, 2636-10,
2636-19.