§ 6608. Definition of practice of registered dental assisting. The
practice of registered dental assisting is defined as providing
supportive services to a dentist in such dentist's performance of dental
services authorized under this article. Such support shall include
providing patient education, taking preliminary medical histories and
vital signs to be reviewed by the dentist, placing and removing rubber
dams, selecting and prefitting provisional crowns, selecting and
prefitting orthodontic bands, removing orthodontic arch wires and
ligature ties, placing and removing matrix bands, taking impressions for
study casts or diagnostic casts, removing periodontal dressings, placing
and removing temporary restorations, application of topical fluoride
varnish, and such other dental supportive services authorized by the
dentist consistent with regulations promulgated by the commissioner,
provided that such functions are performed under the direct personal
supervision of a licensed dentist in the course of the performance of
dental services. Such services shall not include diagnosing and/or
performing surgical procedures, irreversible procedures or procedures
that would alter the hard or soft tissue of the oral and maxillofacial
area or any other procedures determined by the department. The practice
of registered dental assisting may be conducted in the office of any
licensed dentist or in any appropriately equipped school or public
institution but must be done under the direct personal supervision of a
licensed dentist. Direct personal supervision, for purposes of this
section, means supervision of dental procedures based on instructions
given by a licensed dentist in the course of a procedure who remains in
the dental office where the supportive services are being performed,
personally diagnoses the condition to be treated, personally authorizes
the procedures, and before dismissal of the patient, who remains the
responsibility of the licensed dentist, evaluates the services performed
by the registered dental assistant. Nothing herein authorizes a
registered dental assistant to perform any of the services or functions
defined as part of the practice of dental hygiene in accordance with the
provisions of subdivision one of section sixty-six hundred six of this
article, except those functions authorized pursuant to this section. All
dental supportive services provided in this section may be performed by
currently registered dental hygienists either under a dentist's
supervision, as defined in regulations of the commissioner, or, in the
case of a registered dental hygienist working for a hospital as defined
in article twenty-eight of the public health law, pursuant to a
collaborative arrangement with a licensed dentist in accordance with
subdivision one of section sixty-six hundred six of this article. 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.