Chapter 466, Florida Statutes - Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, and Dental Laboratories
Chapter 466 is Florida's dentistry-specific licensing and scope statute. It defines the practice of dentistry broadly-diagnosis, treatment planning, surgery, prescribing, and procedures on teeth, gums, jaws, and associated structures-and reserves that practice to licensed dentists, with limited statutory exceptions. Dental hygienists hold a separate license and may perform specified preventive and therapeutic services only under the supervision level and in the settings the statute and Board rules allow. Dental assistants are not licensed by the Board in the same way; their permissible expanded duties depend on training or certification and delegation rules. Dental laboratories must register and may not diagnose or treat patients; a lab fabricates or repairs appliances on a dentist's authorization. A candidate must separate three questions: who may perform the task, what supervision is required, and where it may occur. Traps: treating "hygienist" as a mini-dentist; assuming a task allowed in a public health setting is allowed unsupervised in a private office; confusing direct and indirect supervision; and missing that a dentist who aids unlicensed practice is exposed to discipline. Worked example: A hygienist in a private practice wants to perform a newly expanded procedure. The correct analysis is not "she is licensed, so yes." Ask whether Chapter 466 and Rule 64B5 list the procedure, whether the required supervision is present, and whether the setting qualifies. If any element is missing, do not delegate. Rule of thumb: license, task, supervision, and setting must all line up.