Chapter 232

2005 -- H 5282 SUBSTITUTE A

Enacted 07/09/05

A N A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS - DENTISTS AND DENTAL

HYGIENISTS

Introduced By: Representatives Ginaitt, Anguilla, Gallison, and McNamara

Date Introduced: February 02, 2005

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Sections 5-31.1-1, 5-31.1-7, 5-31.1-21 and 5-31.1-33 of the General Laws

in Chapter 5-31.1 entitled "Dentists and Dental Hygienists" are hereby amended to read as

follows:

5-31.1-1. Definitions. -- As used in this chapter:

(1) "Board" means the Rhode Island board of examiners in dentistry or any committee or

subcommittee of the board.

(2) "Chief of the division of oral health" means, the chief of the division of oral health of

the Rhode Island department of health who is a licensed dentist possessing a masters degree in

public health or a certificate in public health from an accredited program.

(3) "Dental administrator" means the administrator of the Rhode Island board of

examiners in dentistry.

(4) "Dental hygienist" means a person with a license to practice dental hygiene in this

state under the provisions of this chapter.

(5) "Dentist" means a person with a license to practice dentistry in this state under the

provisions of this chapter.

(6) "Dentistry" is defined as the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment (non-

surgical, surgical or related procedures) of diseases, disorders and/or conditions of the oral cavity,

cranio-maxillofacial area and/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, in accordance with the ethics of the profession and applicable law.

(7) "Department" means the Rhode Island department of health.

(8) "Director" means the director of the Rhode Island department of health.

(9) "Health care facility" means any institutional health service provider licensed

pursuant to the provisions of chapter 17 of title 23.

(10) "Health maintenance organization" means a public or private organization licensed

pursuant to the provisions of chapter 17 of title 23 or chapter 41 of title 27.

(11) "Limited registrant" means a person holding a limited registration certificate

pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(12) "Nonprofit medical services corporation" or "nonprofit hospital service corporation"

or "nonprofit dental service corporation" means any corporation organized pursuant to chapter 19

or 20 of title 27 for the purpose of establishing, maintaining and operating a nonprofit medical,

hospital, or dental service plan.

(13) "Peer review board" means any committee of a state, local, dental or dental hygiene,

association or society, or a committee of any licensed health care facility, or the dental staff of the

committee, or any committee of a dental care foundation or health maintenance organization, or

any staff committee or consultant of a hospital, medical, or dental service corporation, the

function of which, or one of the functions of which is to evaluate and improve the quality of

dental care rendered by providers of dental care service or to determine that dental care services

rendered were professionally indicated or were performed in compliance with the applicable

standard of care or that the cost for dental care rendered was considered reasonable by the

providers of professional dental care services in the area and includes a committee functioning as

a utilization review committee under the provisions of P.L. 89-97, 42 U.S.C. section 1395 et. seq.,

(Medicare law) or as a professional standards review organization or statewide professional

standards review council under the provisions of P.L. 92-603, 42 U.S.C. section 1301 et seq.,

(professional standards review organizations) or a similar committee or a committee of similar

purpose, to evaluate or review the diagnosis or treatment of the performance or rendition of dental

services which are performed under public dental programs of either state or federal design.

(14) "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association, trust or

estate, state or political subdivision, or instrumentality of a state.

(15) "Practice of dental hygiene." Any person is practicing dental hygiene within the

meaning of this chapter who performs those services and procedures that a dental hygienist has

been educated to perform and which services and procedures are, from time to time, specifically

authorized by rules and regulations adopted by the board of examiners in dentistry. Nothing in

this section is construed to authorize a licensed dental hygienist to perform the following:

diagnosis and treatment planning, surgical procedures on hard or soft tissue, prescribe medication

or administer ~~injectables and/or~~ general anesthesia or injectables other than oral local anesthesia.

A dental hygienist is only permitted to practice dental hygiene under the general supervision of a

dentist licensed and registered in this state under the provisions of this chapter.

(A) Provided, that in order to administer local injectable anesthesia to dental patients,

dental hygienists must be under the supervision of a dentist and meet the requirements established

by regulation of the Board of Examiners in Dentistry including payment of a permit fee.

(16) (i) (A) "Practice of dentistry." Any person is practicing dentistry within the meaning

of this chapter who:

(I) Uses or permits to be used, directly or indirectly, for profit or otherwise, for himself,

herself or for any other person, in connection with his or her name, the word "dentist" or "dental

surgeon," or the title "D.D.S." or "D.M.D." or any other words, letters, titles, or descriptive

matter, personal or not, which directly or indirectly implies the practice of dentistry;

(II) Owns, leases, maintains, operates a dental business in any office or other room or

rooms where dental operations are performed, or directly or indirectly is manager, proprietor or

conductor of this business;

(III) Directly or indirectly informs the public in any language, orally, in writing, or in

printing, or by drawings, demonstrations, specimens, signs, or pictures that he or she can perform

or will attempt to perform dental operations of any kind;

(IV) Undertakes, by any means or method, gratuitously or for a salary, fee, money, or

other reward paid or granted directly or indirectly to himself or herself or to any other person, to

diagnose or profess to diagnose, or to treat or profess to treat, or to prescribe for or profess to

prescribe for any of the lesions, diseases, disorders, or deficiencies of the human oral cavity,

teeth, gums, maxilla or mandible, and/or adjacent associated structures;

(V) Extracts human teeth, corrects malpositions of the teeth or of the jaws;

(VI) Except on the written prescription of a licensed dentist and by the use of

impressions or casts made by a licensed and practicing dentist, directly or indirectly by mail,

carrier, personal agent, or by any other method, furnishes, supplies, constructs, reproduces, or

repairs prosthetic dentures, bridges, appliances or other structures to be used and worn as

substitutes for natural teeth;

(VII) Places those substitutes in the mouth and/or adjusts them;

(VIII) Administers an anesthetic, either general or local in the course of any of the

previously stated dental procedures; or

(IX) Engages in any of the practices included in the curricula of recognized dental

colleges;

(B) Provided that in order to administer any form of anesthesia, other than local, dentists

must meet the requirements established by regulation of the board of examiners in dentistry,

including payment of a permit fee.

(ii) The board shall promulgate regulations relating to anesthesia. Those regulations shall

be consistent with the American Dental Association guidelines for the use of conscious sedation,

deep sedation and general anesthesia in dentistry. Neither the board nor any regulation

promulgated by the board shall require additional licensing fees for the use of nitrous oxide by

dentists. Prior to the adoption of those regulations, dentists shall be permitted to administer

anesthesia without restriction. From the proceeds of any fees collected pursuant to the provisions

of this chapter, there is created a restricted receipts account which is used solely to pay for the

administrative expenses incurred for expenses of administrating this chapter.

(iii) No non-dentist who operates a dental facility in the form of a licensed outpatient

health care center or management service organization may interfere with the professional

judgment of a dentist in the practice.

5-31.1-7. Recertification -- Continuing dental education. -- (a) ~~Every~~ Effective

beginning in the calendar year 2006, every dentist or dental hygienist licensed to practice within

this state, on or before the first day of ~~October of every year~~ May in each even numbered year,

shall apply to the Rhode Island board of examiners in dentistry for ~~an annual~~ a biennial license

with the board. The applicant shall include satisfactory evidence to the board of examiners in

dentistry that in the preceding ~~year~~ two years the practitioner has completed a prescribed course

of continuing dental or dental hygiene education established by the appropriate dental or dental

hygiene association and approved by rule or regulation of the director or by the board of

examiners in dentistry. If the applicant submits satisfactory evidence to the board that he or she

has completed a prescribed course of continuing dental education or dental hygiene education and

has complied with the provisions of section 5-31.1-6, the board shall issue the applicant a license

registration for a ~~one year~~ two year period commencing on ~~January~~ July 1. The board may extend

for only one six (6) month period those educational requirements if the board is satisfied that the

applicant has suffered hardship, which prevented meeting the educational requirement. No license

to practice dentistry or dental hygiene in this state shall be refused, nor any license suspended or

revoked, except as:

(1) Provided for in this chapter; and

(2) For failure to provide satisfactory evidence of continuing dental or dental hygiene

education as provided for in this section.

(b) Licensees shall apply for recertification by submitting evidence of continuing dental

or dental hygiene education on a ~~triennial~~ biennial basis ~~instead of annually~~. Application for

~~annual~~ biennial registration shall continue as provided in this section and section 5-31.1-21.

5-31.1-21. ~~Annual registration. --~~ Biennial registration. -- (a) On Effective beginning

in the calendar year 2006, on or before the first day of May in each even-numbered year the board

shall mail an application for ~~annual~~ biennial registration to every person to whom a license to

practice dentistry or dental hygiene in this state has been granted by the constituted licensing

authority in the state. Every licensed person who intends to engage in the practice of his or her

profession during the ensuing two (2) years ~~year~~ shall register his or her license by filing with the

board that application executed together with any registration form and fee that is established by

regulation by the director on or before the first day of June in each even-numbered year. Upon

receipt of that application and fee, the board shall issue a registration certificate effective July 1

and expiring ~~the~~ two (2) years following June 30, and that registration certificate shall render its

holder a registered practitioner of dentistry or dental hygiene for that registration period.

(b) The registration certificate of all dentists and dental hygienists whose renewals

accompanied by the prescribed fee are not filed on or before the first day of July automatically

expire. The board may in its discretion and upon the payment by the dentist or dental hygienist of

the current registration fee plus an additional fee of sixty-two dollars and fifty cents ($62.50)

reinstate any certificate expired under the provisions of this section. All unexpended monies in

the account of the board of dentistry are transferred to the new board of dentistry as created by

this section as of June 2, 1988.

a ~~annual~~ biennial basis to be placed on inactive status. Those requests must be made, in writing,

to the dental administrator and must be accompanied by a fee of ~~sixty-two dollars and fifty cents~~

~~($62.50)~~ one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) for dentists and ~~thirty-one dollars and twenty-~~

~~five cents ($31.25)~~ sixty-two dollars and fifty cents ($62.50) for dental hygienists. Persons on

inactive status may be reinstated by paying the current annual registration fee and must meet any

requirements established by this chapter and as are further prescribed by the rules and regulations.

5-31.1-33. Employment of hygienists -- Practices allowed. -- Any licensed dentist,

public institution, or school authority may employ any licensed dental hygienist, whose activities

are confined to performing those services and procedures that the licensed dental hygienist has

been educated to perform, and which services and procedures are, from time to time, specifically

authorized by rules and regulations adopted by the board of examiners in dentistry. Nothing in

this section is construed to authorize a licensed dental hygienist to perform the following:

diagnosis and treatment planning, surgical procedures on hard or soft tissue, prescribe

medication, or administer ~~injectables and/or~~ general anesthesia or injectables other than oral local

anesthesia.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC00863/SUB A

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