Senate Bill S8784

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8784
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 8, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the  education  law,  in  relation  to  authorizing  the
   performance  of  certain  dental  hygiene services at voluntary foster
   care agency health facilities
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  4  of  section 6606 of the education law, as
 added by a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the education law relat-
 ing to registered dental  hygienists  working  without  supervision  but
 within  a  collaborative  practice agreement with a licensed dentist, as
 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3157 and A. 2341, is amended to
 read as follows:
   4. The performance of services pursuant to a  collaborative  agreement
 is  authorized in the following settings: a hospital as defined in arti-
 cle twenty-eight of the public health law, A VOLUNTARY FOSTER CARE AGEN-
 CY HEALTH FACILITY LICENSED PURSUANT TO  ARTICLE  TWENTY-NINE-I  OF  THE
 PUBLIC  HEALTH LAW, an appropriately equipped school, a federally quali-
 fied health center, a long-term care facility, a  group  home  servicing
 people  with  intellectual  and  developmental  disabilities, a facility
 serving veterans, a temporary housing facility, a prison, a drug  treat-
 ment  facility, a domestic violence shelter, and appropriate settings in
 which homebound residents are  unable  to  be  relocated  for  necessary
 treatment.
   §  2.  Section 6608 of the education law, as amended by chapter 457 of
 the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   § 6608. Definition of practice of  registered  dental  assisting.  The
 practice of registered dental assisting is defined as providing support-
 ive  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 prefit-
 ting  orthodontic  bands,  removing  orthodontic arch wires and ligature
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD01024-02-6
 S. 8784                             2
 
 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  regis-
 tered  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  super-
 vision,  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] PERFORMING SERVICES IN A
 PRACTICE SETTING AUTHORIZED UNDER SUBDIVISION FOUR OF SECTION  SIXTY-SIX
 HUNDRED  SIX  OF  THIS  ARTICLE, 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.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the  same  date  and  in  the  same
 manner  as  a  chapter  of  the  laws of 2025 amending the education law
 relating to registered dental hygienists working without supervision but
 within a collaborative practice agreement with a  licensed  dentist,  as
 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3157 and A. 2341, takes effect.