Florida Senate - 2012 SB 1040 By Senator Bogdanoff 25-00525B-12 20121040__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to dental hygienists; amending s. 3 466.017, F.S.; authorizing a dental hygienist, under 4 the supervision of a dentist, to administer local 5 anesthesia to certain patients if the hygienist meets 6 certain criteria; providing the criteria that a dental 7 hygienist must meet in order to administer local 8 anesthesia; authorizing a dental hygienist to apply 9 for certification to administer local anesthesia; 10 requiring the Department of Health to issue the 11 certificate under certain circumstances; authorizing 12 the board to charge a fee, not to exceed a specified 13 amount, to defray the cost of verifying criteria and 14 issuing a certificate; providing that the certificate 15 is part of the dental hygienist’s permanent record; 16 requiring that the certificate be prominently 17 displayed; amending s. 466.023, F.S.; authorizing a 18 dental hygienist to administer local anesthesia; 19 providing an effective date. 20 21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22 23 Section 1. Present subsections (5) and (6) of section 24 466.017, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (7) and 25 (8), respectively, and new subsections (5) and (6) are added to 26 that section, to read: 27 466.017 Prescription of drugs; anesthesia.— 28 (5) Notwithstanding s. 466.003(11), a dental hygienist 29 under the direct supervision of a dentist may administer local 30 anesthesia, including both intraoral block and soft tissue 31 infiltration anesthesia, to a nonsedated patient who is 18 years 32 of age or older, if the following criteria are met: 33 (a) The dental hygienist has successfully completed a 34 course in the administration of local anesthesia which is 35 offered by a dental or dental hygiene program accredited by the 36 Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental 37 Association or approved by the board. A course involving the 38 administration of local anesthesia must contain a minimum of 30 39 hours of didactic instruction and 30 hours of clinical 40 experience. This course involving the administration of local 41 anesthesia must include instruction in: 42 1. Theory of pain control. 43 2. Selection-of-pain-control modalities. 44 3. Anatomy. 45 4. Neurophysiology. 46 5. Pharmacology of local anesthetics. 47 6. Pharmacology of vasoconstrictors. 48 7. Psychological aspects of pain control. 49 8. Systemic complications. 50 9. Techniques of maxillary anesthesia. 51 10. Techniques of mandibular anesthesia. 52 11. Infection control. 53 12. Medical emergencies involving local anesthesia. 54 (b) The dental hygienist maintains and shows evidence of 55 current certification in basic or advanced cardiac life support. 56 (c) The dental hygienist holds a certificate issued under 57 subsection (6). 58 (6) An individual dental hygienist may apply for 59 certification to administer local anesthesia under subsection 60 (5). According to rules adopted by the board, the department or 61 its designee shall issue a certificate to a dental hygienist who 62 proves that he or she has met the criteria in paragraphs (5)(a) 63 and (b). The board may charge a fee, not to exceed $35, to 64 defray the cost of verifying that the dental hygienist has met 65 the criteria in paragraphs (5)(a) and (b) and issuing the 66 certificate. The certificate is not subject to renewal but is 67 part of the dental hygienist’s permanent record and must be 68 prominently displayed at the location where the dental hygienist 69 is authorized to administer local anesthesia. 70 Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 466.023, 71 Florida Statutes, to read: 72 466.023 Dental hygienists; scope and area of practice.— 73 (7) A dental hygienist may administer local anesthesia as 74 provided in s. 466.017. 75 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.