Advocacy

Dental Boards

AGD Transcript News

The AGDTranscript is a quarterly e-newsletter sent to each state dental board in an effort to facilitate greater awareness of dental trends and issues across the nation. As the Academy of General Dentistry worked with Licensing dental boards toward acceptance of the AGD state transcript, it was noticed that happenings in one state were not always publicized to other states. Through this newsletter, the AGD hopes to build a lasting relationship with state licensing agencies while communicating information of interest. 
Current Issue: October 2009 Archives 
  Survey on Interest in Creation of a Universal CE Certificate
  Notification of Credentials   Teeth Whitening Update
  AGD Report on HRSA Workforce Summit   Collaborative Health Care for Older Adults: A Symposium for Creating Dialogue between Medicine and Dentistry
  CORRECTION:

Teeth Whitening Update

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In January 2008, the AGDtranscript e-newsletter published an article about who is eligible to perform teeth whitening procedures. Since then, many state agencies, including both dental boards and legislatures, have undertaken this debate. In February 2009, an Alabama state court judge ruled that commercial teeth whitening services "fall within the scope of the practice of dentistry" as defined in the Alabama Dental Practice Act, and decreed that "in the best interest of health, safety, and welfare of the public … a properly trained and licensed dentist will better serve the individual patient and the public at large in this regard."

 

Several other states—including Hawaii, Illinois, and Missouri—have introduced legislation concerning tooth whitening, while dental boards in some states—including Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Ohio—are addressing the issue at the regulatory level. Oklahoma and Tennessee have already banned commercial teeth whitening operations.

 

In 2008, the ADA House of Delegates adopted Resolution 73H-2008, which addressed whitening and bleaching treatments and how they may fall within the scope of dental practice. The resolution urges ADA constituents, "through legislative or regulatory efforts, to support the proposition that the administering or application of any intra-oral chemical for the sole purpose of whitening/bleaching of the teeth by whatever technique, save for the lawfully permitted self application and application by a parent and/or guardian, constitutes the practice of dentistry and any non-dentist engaging in such activity is committing the unlicensed practice of dentistry."

 

At the state level, the Hawaii legislature proposed amending the definition of dentistry to include "tooth whitening services," while the failed Illinois legislation, House Bill (H.B.) 2129, would have included within the practice of dentistry one "who takes the impressions of human teeth or performs any phase of any operation incident to teeth whitening, including but not limited to the sale, instruction, and application on site of teeth whitening materials or procedures."

 

The Missouri legislation, H.B. 766, provides in part that "any individual who takes the dental impression of another or who performs any phase of any operation incident to teeth whitening, including but not limited to the instruction or application of on-site teeth-whitening materials or procedures, except with the direct supervision of a licensed dentist, shall be deemed to be engaging in the practice of dentistry."

 

Other related state information includes:

  • The District of Columbia's District Government has promulgated rules reserving bleaching to dentists or allied dental personnel with the direct supervision of a dentist.
  • The Nevada Dental Practice Act provides that a person is practicing dentistry if he or she dispenses certain tooth whitening agents or undertakes to whiten or bleach teeth other than with over-the-counter products. However, a person may engage in such activities without a dental license if the person is acting in a manner authorized by the regulations of the dental board.
  • The Tennessee Board of Dentistry has approved a policy clarifying its existing tooth whitening rule, which reserves tooth whitening to licensed dentists and specified allied personnel with direct supervision.
  • Newly adopted policy from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry reads that tooth whitening services "are considered to be the practice of dentistry, and, therefore, must be provided by a dentist who is fully licensed in the Commonwealth and performed by dental personnel with a licensed dentist's supervision."
  • The Ohio State Dental Board adopted a policy stating in part that "simply providing a consumer with the materials to make a tray and demonstrating to them how to apply materials to their teeth for bleaching purposes is not the practice of dentistry, unless and until someone other than the consumer places their hands in the consumer's mouth, and/or positions the activation light or similar device on behalf of the consumer."
  • The Kansas Dental Board has taken a stand on teeth whitening kiosks and other non-licensed individuals working on teeth. A new rule, adopted on Aug. 6, 2009, states that any non-licensed person who provides a service or procedure altering the color or physical condition of teeth is deemed to be practicing dentistry unless under the direct supervision of a licensed and practicing dentist. The new rule went into effect on Aug. 21, 2009.

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