Questions and CORRECT Answers
The practice of dental hygiene includes - CORRECT ANSWER - The practice of dental
hygiene includes dental hygiene assessment and development, planning, and implementation of a
dental hygiene care plan. It also includes oral health education, counseling, and health screenings
The practice of dental hygiene does not include any of the following procedures - CORRECT
ANSWER - ) Diagnosis and comprehensive treatment planning.
(2) Placing, condensing, carving, or removal of permanent restorations.
(3) Surgery or cutting on hard and soft tissue including, but not limited to, the removal of teeth
and the cutting and suturing of soft tissue.
(4) Prescribing medication.
(5) Administering local or general anesthesia or oral or parenteral conscious sedation, except for
the administration of nitrous oxide and oxygen, whether administered alone or in combination
with each other, or local anesthesia pursuant to Section 1909.
A registered dental hygienist is authorized to perform the following procedures under direct
supervision of a licensed dentist, after submitting to the dental hygiene board evidence of
satisfactory completion of a course of instruction, approved by the dental hygiene board, in the
procedures: - CORRECT ANSWER - (a) Soft-tissue curettage.
(b) Administration of local anesthesia.
(c) Administration of nitrous oxide and oxygen, whether administered alone or in combination
with each other.
A registered dental hygienist is authorized to perform the following procedures under general
supervision: - CORRECT ANSWER - a) Preventive and therapeutic interventions,
including oral prophylaxis, scaling, and root planing.
(b) Application of topical, therapeutic, and subgingival agents used for the control of caries and
periodontal disease.
(c) The taking of impressions for bleaching trays and application and activation of agents with
nonlaser, light-curing devices.
, (d) The taking of impressions for bleaching trays and placements of in-office, tooth-whitening
devices.
A registered dental hygienist may provide, without supervision, educational services, oral health
training programs, and oral health screenings. - CORRECT ANSWER - b) A registered
dental hygienist shall refer any screened patients with possible oral abnormalities to a dentist for
a comprehensive examination, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
(c) In any public health program created by federal, state, or local law or administered by a
federal, state, county, or local governmental entity, a registered dental hygienist may provide,
without supervision, dental hygiene preventive services in addition to oral screenings, including,
but not limited to, the application of fluorides and pit and fissure sealants. A registered dental
hygienist employed as described in this subdivision may submit, or allow to be submitted, any
insurance or third-party claims for patient services performed as authorized in this article.
No person other than a registered dental hygienist, registered dental hygienist in alternative
practice, or registered dental hygienist in extended functions or a licensed dentist may engage in
the practice of dental hygiene or perform dental hygiene procedures on patients, including, but
not limited to, supragingival and subgingival scaling, dental hygiene assessment, and treatment
planning, except for the following persons: - CORRECT ANSWER - A student enrolled in
a dental or a dental hygiene school who is performing procedures as part of the regular
curriculum of that program under the supervision of the faculty of that program.
(b) A dental assistant acting in accordance with the rules of the dental board in performing the
following procedures:
(1) Applying nonaerosol and noncaustic topical agents.
(2) Applying topical fluoride.
(3) Taking impressions for bleaching trays.
(c) A registered dental assistant acting in accordance with the rules of the dental board in
performing the following procedures:
(1) Polishing the coronal surfaces of teeth.
(2) Applying bleaching agents.
(3) Activating bleaching agents with a nonlaser light-curing device.
(4) Applying pit and fissure sealants.
(d) A registered dental assistant in extended functions acting in accordance with the rules of the
dental board in applying pit and fissure sealants.