By: Madla S.B. No. 1347
97S0786/1
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. Article 4551e-1, Revised Statutes, is amended by
1-4 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
1-5 follows:
1-6 (b) A person licensed to practice dentistry may delegate to
1-7 any qualified and properly trained dental assistant acting under
1-8 the dentist's supervision any dental act that a reasonable and
1-9 prudent dentist would find is within the scope of sound dental
1-10 judgment to delegate if, in the opinion of the delegating dentist,
1-11 the act can be properly and safely performed by the person to whom
1-12 the dental act is delegated and the act is performed in its
1-13 customary manner, not in violation of this Act or any other
1-14 statute, and the person to whom the dental act is delegated does
1-15 not hold himself out to the public as being authorized to practice
1-16 dentistry. However, a dentist may not:
1-17 (1) delegate an act to an individual who, by order of
1-18 the Board, is prohibited from performing the act;
1-19 (2) delegate the performance of any of the following
1-20 acts to a person not licensed as a dentist or dental hygienist:
1-21 (A) the removal of calculus, deposits, or
1-22 accretions from the natural and restored surfaces of exposed human
1-23 teeth and restorations in the human mouth;
2-1 (B) root planing or the smoothing and polishing
2-2 of roughened root surfaces [or exposed human teeth]; or
2-3 (C) any other act the delegation of which is
2-4 prohibited by the rules of the Board; or
2-5 (3) delegate the performance of any of the following
2-6 acts to a person not licensed as a dentist:
2-7 (A) comprehensive examination or diagnosis and
2-8 treatment planning;
2-9 (B) a surgical or cutting procedure on hard or
2-10 soft tissue;
2-11 (C) the prescription of a drug, medication, or
2-12 work authorization;
2-13 (D) the taking of an impression for a final
2-14 restoration, appliance, or prosthesis;
2-15 (E) the making of an intraoral occlusal
2-16 adjustment;
2-17 (F) the performance of direct pulp capping,
2-18 pulpotomy, or any other endodontic procedure;
2-19 (G) the final placement and intraoral adjustment
2-20 of a fixed or removable appliance;
2-21 (H) the placement of any final restoration; or
2-22 (I) the administration of a local anesthetic,
2-23 parenteral or inhalational sedative agent, or general anesthetic
2-24 agent.
2-25 (h) A person licensed to practice dentistry may delegate to
3-1 a dental assistant with two years' experience who has completed
3-2 training and certification prescribed by the Board the act of
3-3 application of pit and fissure sealants under the supervision,
3-4 direction, and responsibility of the delegating dentist.
3-5 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-6 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.