§ 6608. Definition of practice of registered dental assisting. The
practice of registered dental assisting is defined as providing
supportive services to a dentist in his or her 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, 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.