By: Madla S.B. No. 1347
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to certain permitted duties of dental assistants.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Section 15, Chapter 475, Acts of the 52nd
1-4 Legislature, 1951 (Article 4551e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes),
1-5 is amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 15. Exceptions. The provisions of this Act shall not
1-7 apply to: (1) dentists duly licensed and authorized to practice
1-8 dentistry within this state and who are actively engaged in such
1-9 practice except as provided in Section 3 of this Act;
1-10 (2) physicians and surgeons legally authorized to practice medicine
1-11 as defined by the law of this state; or (3) employees of a dentist
1-12 who make dental x-rays or who polish the coronal surfaces of
1-13 exposed human teeth in the dental office and under the supervision
1-14 of such dentist or dentists legally engaged in the practice of
1-15 dentistry in this state.
1-16 SECTION 2. Article 4551e-1, Revised Statutes, is amended by
1-17 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
1-18 follows:
1-19 (b) A person licensed to practice dentistry may delegate to
1-20 any qualified and properly trained dental assistant acting under
1-21 the dentist's supervision any dental act that a reasonable and
1-22 prudent dentist would find is within the scope of sound dental
1-23 judgment to delegate if, in the opinion of the delegating dentist,
2-1 the act can be properly and safely performed by the person to whom
2-2 the dental act is delegated and the act is performed in its
2-3 customary manner, not in violation of this Act or any other
2-4 statute, and the person to whom the dental act is delegated does
2-5 not hold himself out to the public as being authorized to practice
2-6 dentistry. However, a dentist may not:
2-7 (1) delegate an act to an individual who, by order of
2-8 the Board, is prohibited from performing the act;
2-9 (2) delegate the performance of any of the following
2-10 acts to a person not licensed as a dentist or dental hygienist:
2-11 (A) the removal of calculus, deposits, or
2-12 accretions from the natural and restored surfaces of exposed human
2-13 teeth and restorations in the human mouth;
2-14 (B) root planing or the smoothing and polishing
2-15 of roughened root surfaces [or exposed human teeth]; or
2-16 (C) any other act the delegation of which is
2-17 prohibited by the rules of the Board; or
2-18 (3) delegate the performance of any of the following
2-19 acts to a person not licensed as a dentist:
2-20 (A) comprehensive examination or diagnosis and
2-21 treatment planning;
2-22 (B) a surgical or cutting procedure on hard or
2-23 soft tissue;
2-24 (C) the prescription of a drug, medication, or
2-25 work authorization;
3-1 (D) the taking of an impression for a final
3-2 restoration, appliance, or prosthesis;
3-3 (E) the making of an intraoral occlusal
3-4 adjustment;
3-5 (F) the performance of direct pulp capping,
3-6 pulpotomy, or any other endodontic procedure;
3-7 (G) the final placement and intraoral adjustment
3-8 of a fixed or removable appliance;
3-9 (H) the placement of any final restoration; or
3-10 (I) the administration of a local anesthetic,
3-11 parenteral or inhalational sedative agent, or general anesthetic
3-12 agent.
3-13 (h) A person licensed to practice dentistry may delegate to
3-14 a dental assistant with two years' experience who has completed
3-15 training and certification prescribed by the Board the act of
3-16 application of pit and fissure sealants under the supervision,
3-17 direction, and responsibility of the delegating dentist.
3-18 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-19 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.