(1)(a) Subject to RCW 18.29.230 and (c) of this
subsection, dental hygienists licensed under this chapter with
two years' practical clinical experience with a licensed dentist
within the preceding five years may be employed or retained by
health care facilities to perform authorized dental hygiene
operations and services without dental supervision, limited to
removal of deposits and stains from the surfaces of the teeth,
application of topical preventive or prophylactic agents,
polishing and smoothing restorations, and performance of root
planing and soft-tissue curettage, but shall not perform
injections of anesthetic agents, administration of nitrous oxide,
or diagnosis for dental treatment.
(b) The performance of dental hygiene operations and
services in health care facilities shall be limited to patients,
students, and residents of the facilities.
(c) A dental hygienist employed or retained to perform
services under this section in a senior center must, before
providing services:
(i) Enter into a written practice arrangement plan, approved
by the department, with a dentist licensed in this state, under
which the dentist will provide off-site supervision of the dental
services provided. This agreement does not create an obligation
for the dentist to accept referrals of patients receiving
services under the program;
(ii) Collect data on the patients treated by dental
hygienists under the program, including age, treatments rendered,
insurance coverage, if any, and patient referral to dentists.
This data must be submitted to the department of health at the
end of each annual quarter, commencing October 1, 2007; and
(iii) Obtain information from the patient's primary health
care provider about any health conditions of the patient that
would be relevant to the provision of preventive dental care.
The information may be obtained by the dental hygienist's direct
contact with the provider or through a written document from the
provider that the patient presents to the dental hygienist.
(d) For dental planning and dental treatment, dental
hygienists shall refer patients to licensed dentists.
(2) For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Health care facilities" are limited to hospitals;
nursing homes; home health agencies; group homes serving the
elderly, individuals with disabilities, and juveniles;
state-operated institutions under the jurisdiction of the
department of social and health services or the department of
corrections; and federal, state, and local public health
facilities, state or federally funded community and migrant
health centers, and tribal clinics. Until July 1, 2009, "health
care facilities" also include senior centers.
(b) "Senior center" means a multipurpose community facility
operated and maintained by a nonprofit organization or local
government for the organization and provision of a broad spectrum
of health, social, nutritional, and educational services and
recreational activities for persons sixty years of age or older.
[2007 c 270 § 1; 1997 c 37 § 2; 1984 c 279 § 63.]
NOTES:
Report -- 2007 c 270: "The secretary of health, in
consultation with representatives of dental hygienists and
dentists, shall provide a report to the appropriate committees of
the legislature by December 1, 2008, that:
(1) Provides a summary of the information about patients
receiving dental services in senior centers that is collected
under RCW 18.29.056(1)(c)(ii), and in community-based sealant
programs carried out in schools under RCW 18.29.220, and
describing the dental health outcomes, including both effects on
dental health and adverse incidents, if any, related to the
services these patients receive under the programs; and
(2) Makes recommendations, as appropriate, with regard to
the services that could be appropriately provided by dental
hygienists in senior centers and community-based sealant programs
carried out in schools, and the effects on dental health of
patients treated." [2007 c 270 § 4.]
Severability -- 1984 c 279: See RCW 18.130.901.