S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6399
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 27, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to local block anesthesia
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Section  6605-b of the education law, as added by chapter
 437 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
   § 6605-b. Dental  hygiene  restricted  local  infiltration  AND  BLOCK
 anesthesia/nitrous  oxide  analgesia  certificate. 1. A dental hygienist
 shall not administer or monitor nitrous oxide analgesia or local  infil-
 tration  OR BLOCK anesthesia in the practice of dental hygiene without a
 dental    hygiene    restricted    local    infiltration    AND    BLOCK
 anesthesia/nitrous  oxide  analgesia  certificate  and  except under the
 personal supervision of a dentist and in conjunction with  the  perform-
 ance  of  dental  hygiene procedures authorized by law and in accordance
 with regulations promulgated by the commissioner. Personal  supervision,
 for purposes of this section, means that the supervising dentist remains
 in the dental office where the local infiltration OR BLOCK anesthesia or
 nitrous oxide analgesia services are being performed, personally author-
 izes and prescribes the use of local infiltration OR BLOCK anesthesia or
 nitrous  oxide  analgesia  for  the patient and, before dismissal of the
 patient, personally examines the condition of the patient after the  use
 of  local infiltration OR BLOCK anesthesia or nitrous oxide analgesia is
 completed. It is professional  misconduct  for  a  dentist  to  fail  to
 provide  the supervision required by this section, and any dentist found
 guilty of such misconduct under the  procedures  prescribed  in  section
 sixty-five  hundred  ten of this [title] ARTICLE shall be subject to the
 penalties prescribed  in  section  sixty-five  hundred  eleven  of  this
 [title] ARTICLE.
   2.  The  commissioner shall promulgate regulations establishing stand-
 ards and procedures for the issuance of such certificate. Such standards
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02028-01-1

 S. 6399                             2
 
 shall require completion of an  educational  program  and/or  course  of
 training  or  experience sufficient to ensure that a dental hygienist is
 specifically trained in the administration  and  monitoring  of  nitrous
 oxide analgesia and local infiltration OR BLOCK anesthesia, the possible
 effects  of such use, and in the recognition of and response to possible
 emergency situations.
   3. The fee for a dental  hygiene  restricted  local  infiltration  AND
 BLOCK  anesthesia/nitrous  oxide  analgesia certificate shall be twenty-
 five dollars and shall be paid on a triennial basis upon renewal of such
 certificate. A certificate may be  suspended  or  revoked  in  the  same
 manner as a license to practice dental hygiene.
   § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 6606 of the education law, as amended by
 chapter 239 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The practice of the profession of dental hygiene is defined as the
 performance of dental services which shall include  removing  calcareous
 deposits,  accretions  and stains from the exposed surfaces of the teeth
 which begin at the epithelial attachment  and  applying  topical  agents
 indicated for a complete dental prophylaxis, removing cement, placing or
 removing  rubber  dam,  removing sutures, placing matrix band, providing
 patient education, applying topical  medication,  placing  and  exposing
 diagnostic  dental X-ray films, performing topical fluoride applications
 and topical anesthetic applications,  polishing  teeth,  taking  medical
 history,  charting  caries,  taking impressions for study casts, placing
 and  removing  temporary  restorations,  administering  and   monitoring
 nitrous  oxide  analgesia  and administering and monitoring local infil-
 tration AND BLOCK anesthesia, subject  to  certification  in  accordance
 with  section  sixty-six  hundred  five-b of this article, and any other
 function in the definition of the practice of dentistry as may be deleg-
 ated by a licensed dentist in accordance with regulations promulgated by
 the commissioner. The practice of dental hygiene may be conducted in the
 office of any licensed dentist or in any appropriately  equipped  school
 or public institution but must be done either under the supervision of a
 licensed  dentist or, in the case of a registered dental hygienist work-
 ing for a hospital as defined in  article  twenty-eight  of  the  public
 health  law, pursuant to a collaborative arrangement with a licensed and
 registered dentist who has a formal relationship with the same  hospital
 in  accordance with regulations promulgated by the department in consul-
 tation with the department of  health.  Such  collaborative  arrangement
 shall  not  obviate  or  supersede  any law or regulation which requires
 identified services to be performed under the personal supervision of  a
 dentist.  When dental hygiene services are provided pursuant to a colla-
 borative agreement, such dental hygienist shall instruct individuals  to
 visit a licensed dentist for comprehensive examination or treatment.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.