DQAC Rule Hearing on Delegation of Duties to Hygienists - July 26

DQAC Rule Hearing on Delegation of Duties to Hygienists - July 26

DQAC will hold a hearing on rule amendments regarding allowable duties a dentist may delegate to a licensed dental hygienist under general supervision on Friday, July 26.

DQAC Rule Hearing

Rule amendments regarding allowable duties a dentist may delegate to a licensed dental hygienist under general supervision.
Friday, July 26
9:35 AM

See Proposed Amendments
Submit comments to Jennifer Santiago at jennifer.santiago@doh.wa.gov through July 22.

The following is an update from DQAC ​regarding the proposed amendments:


Attached is the CR102 filed as WSR 19-13-093 on June 18, 2019. This is a supplemental proposal on rule regarding allowable duties a dentist may delegate to a licensed dental hygienist under general supervision. 

The proposed rule amendments in this supplemental filing updates the listing of allowable duties a dentist may delegate to a licensed dental hygienist under general supervision. The Dental Commission considered a rule request in July 2017 to allow dental hygienists to perform certain tasks under general supervision that are typically completed by dental assistants under close supervision. Close supervision requires the dentist to be physically present in the treatment facility during the performance of a delegated task while general supervision does not.

Stakeholder comments received at the March 1, 2019 hearing on the original rule proposal, CR102 filed as WSR 19-03-072 on January 14, 2019, opposed several orthodontic tasks as appropriate for general supervision. The commission determined not to adopt the rule as proposed and tasked the Dental Collaboration Committee to work with stakeholders regarding concerns related to orthodontic tasks.

The following tasks are were deleted from the original proposal:

  • (34) Prepare teeth for the bonding of orthodontic appliances.
  • (35) Bond attachments for clear removable orthodontic aligners.
  • (36) Remove and replace archwires and orthodontic wires.
  • (37) Remove fixed orthodontic appliances, orthodontic cement, and orthodontic bonded resin material.
"State":"WA"