A. No person other than a dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistant I, dental assistant II, digital scan technician, or other person under the direction of a dentist shall obtain dental scans for use in the practice of dentistry.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-2708.5

  • Board: means the Board of Dentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
  • Dental hygienist: means a person who is licensed by the Board to practice dental hygiene. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
  • Dentist: means a person who has been awarded a degree in and is licensed by the Board to practice dentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
  • Dentistry: means the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, through surgical, nonsurgical, or related procedures, of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral cavity and the maxillofacial, adjacent, and associated structures and their impact on the human body. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
  • Digital scan: means digital technology that creates a computer-generated replica of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity using enhanced digital photography. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
  • Digital scan technician: means a person who has completed a training program approved by the Board to take digital scans of intraoral and extraoral hard and soft tissues for use in teledentistry. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Teledentistry: means the delivery of dentistry between a patient and a dentist who holds a license to practice dentistry issued by the Board through the use of telehealth systems and electronic technologies or media, including interactive, two-way audio or video. See Virginia Code 54.1-2700

B. A digital scan technician who obtains dental scans for use in the practice of teledentistry shall work under the direction of a dentist who is (i) licensed by the Board to practice dentistry in the Commonwealth, (ii) accessible and available for communication and consultation with the digital scan technician at all times during the patient interaction, and (iii) responsible for ensuring that the digital scan technician has a program of training approved by the Board for such purpose. All protocols and procedures for the performance of digital scans by digital scan technicians and evidence that a digital scan technician has complied with the training requirements of the Board shall be made available to the Board upon request.

2020, cc. 37, 220.