Board of Dentistry and Dental Hygiene Rules: The Operational Layer
The Board of Dentistry and Dental Hygiene writes the regulations that turn Chapter 11 into daily practice: application and examination procedures, delegation lists, supervision documentation, infection control, record retention, sedation and anesthesia permits, advertising, and hearing procedure. The exam tests whether you can locate the governing instrument - statute or rule - and apply the rule's operational detail to a real office situation.
What the rules actually govern
- Composition and authority. The Board is a governor-appointed body with a dentist majority plus dental hygienist and public members. It adopts regulations, approves examinations, issues and renews licenses, sets continuing education, and hears disciplinary complaints. It does not write criminal law and cannot waive a statutory requirement for a sympathetic applicant.
- Delegation lists. The rules enumerate which functions may be performed by unlicensed assistants, by expanded-function dental assistants, and by hygienists. A task not on the list cannot be delegated merely because the dentist will check the result.
- Sedation and anesthesia permits. Minimal, moderate, and deep sedation/general anesthesia sit at different permit tiers with different training, equipment, monitoring, and rescue-drill obligations. The permit is facility- and provider-specific, and it must be current before the appointment, not after.
- Infection control and records. Offices must maintain a written infection-control protocol consistent with current CDC guidance, and patient records must be kept for the retention period the rule specifies, legible and sufficient to justify the treatment rendered.
- Advertising and titles. Specialty designation may be used only when the dentist holds board certification in an ADA-recognized specialty; otherwise the claim is misleading.
Worked example
A dentist asks an unlicensed assistant to place pit-and-fissure sealants during a school screening. Under the delegation rules, sealants are not a general assistant function; they are assigned to hygienists or to assistants holding a specific expanded-function credential, with the required training and supervision. Because the assistant holds neither, the assignment must be reassigned or cancelled. The dentist's supervision does not cure the defect - the rule authorizes the function by credential, not by oversight.
Traps
Citing a rule when the statute controls, or vice versa. Treating "trained" as "authorized." Running moderate sedation on a deep-sedation permit, or letting a permit lapse mid-cycle. Advertising a specialty without certification. Keeping records that document the fee but not the diagnosis.