2020 California Code
Business and Professions Code - BPC
DIVISION 2 - HEALING ARTS
CHAPTER 4 - Dentistry
ARTICLE 9 - Dental Hygienists
Section 1911.

(a) A registered dental hygienist may provide, without supervision, educational services, oral health training programs, and oral health screenings.

(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, at a sponsored event by a sponsoring entity or at a nonprofit organization, 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 practicing 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.

(d) For purposes of this section, the following shall apply:

(1) “Nonprofit organization” means a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation supported and maintained in whole or in substantial part by donations, bequests, gifts, grants, government funds, or contributions, in the form of money, goods, or services, where dental hygiene services are performed. A nonprofit organization shall not be construed to be engaging in the unlicensed practice of dentistry.

(2) “Sponsored event” shall be defined as in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1626.6.

(3) “Sponsoring entity” shall be defined as in paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 1626.6.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 130, Sec. 1. (SB 653) Effective January 1, 2021.)