Ohio Dental Hygienist Scope of Practice Expanded to Permit the Use of Lasers
Newly adopted regulations to the Ohio Dental Practice Act now permit the use of lasers by Ohio dental hygienists for certain services.[1] Subject to education, and training requirements and direct dentist supervision, Ohio dental hygienists may now use lasers for:
- Bacterial reduction;
- Assisted periodontal therapy;
- Other non-surgical periodontal therapeutic treatments;
- Photobimodulation (adjunctive low-level laser therapy); and
- Treatment of herpetic lesions and aphthous ulcers.
Importantly, Ohio dentists may not delegate the use of lasers to bleach teeth to dental hygienists. Further, in order to provide these new laser services, the dental hygienist’s completion of education and training requirements must be documented on the Ohio State Dental Board’s Permissible Practices form and maintained at the location where the dental hygienist works. Such requirements include:
- A basic life-support training course, certified by the American Heart Associate, the American Red Cross, or the Health & Safety Institute; and
- Satisfaction of the education and training requirements set forth in rule 4715-9-01.4 of the Ohio Administrative Code, including completion of a course on the use of lasers involving:
- 5.5 hours minimum of didactic instruction and successful completion of a written examination by a score of at least 75%; and
- 2.5 hours minimum of clinical hands-on training and successful completion of a clinical competency exam with a score of at least 75%.
Additional restrictions include: (1) a permitted laser wavelength of no higher than 1,064 nanometers, (2) that the laser use does not ablate or cauterize hard or soft tissue, and (3) documentation of the supervising dentist’s approval for patient discharge. If you have any questions regarding the scope of practice for dental hygienists, please contact a Dinsmore healthcare attorney.
[1] OAC 4715-9-01 and 4715-9-01.4