Authorizes dental hygienists to provide such services in collaboration with a licensed dentist

Expanded dental care with new provider rules

Beginning 18 months after enactment, New York allows approved dental hygienists to provide certain services through written agreements with dentists. State regulations define the allowed services based on hygienists’ training and qualifications. Eligible services can be provided without a prior dentist evaluation under general supervision, or without supervision in approved settings. Services that legally require personal supervision still require it. Approved settings include hospitals, properly equipped schools, federally qualified health centers, long-term care facilities, and group homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They also include veterans’ facilities, temporary housing, prisons, drug treatment facilities, domestic violence shelters, and suitable homebound settings when relocation is not feasible. Hygienists must apply for state approval as a “registered dental hygienist, collaborative practice” and pay a state-set fee. They need at least three years of practice, 4,500 practice hours, and eight hours of continuing education. Training must cover medical emergencies, risk management, dental hygiene law, and professional ethics. The dentist, hygienist, and care setting must sign and keep the agreement, which requires annual review. Written protocols must address medically compromised patients, specific medical conditions, age, procedures, and recommended intervals for hygiene care and dentist exams. Agreements must be available to the state department and other interested parties on request. Each hygienist can have one agreement; each dentist can have six, with case-by-case exceptions for dentists in public health settings. Before treatment, patients must receive written notice that hygiene care does not replace a dentist’s exam. When making referrals, hygienists must complete a referral form and give the collaborating dentist a copy.