GA Dental Hygiene Jurisprudence cheat sheet

The Georgia Board of Dentistry regulates dentistry under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 11, and its rules are compiled in Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 150-1 et seq.

"Dentistry" is defined as the diagnosis, treatment, prescription, or operation on human teeth, gums, jaws, or associated structures, including the correction of malposition and the replacement of missing teeth.

"Dental hygiene" is defined separately as the rendering of educational, preventive, and therapeutic services supporting total dental health, and it is practiced only under the prescribed levels of supervision.

The Board consists of licensed dentists and at least one dental hygienist member, all appointed by the Governor; the hygienist member votes on hygiene-related matters and Board business generally.

Board authority includes issuing, denying, suspending, and revoking licenses; issuing cease-and-desist orders; imposing fines and public reprimands; and adopting rules that carry the force of law.

Practicing dentistry or dental hygiene without a current Georgia license is a criminal offense as well as grounds for Board discipline, and assisting unlicensed practice is separately sanctionable.

The Board may subpoena records and witnesses, administer oaths, and conduct investigations on its own motion or on complaint; failure to cooperate with an investigation is itself a disciplinary ground.

Rulemaking follows the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, and Board rules must be consistent with the statute; where a rule conflicts with O.C.G.A. Title 43, the statute controls.

Licensees must report to the Board within a defined period any change of name or address, and must report certain arrests, convictions, or disciplinary actions taken in another jurisdiction.

Licensure requires graduation from an accredited dental hygiene program, successful completion of a regional or national clinical examination and a jurisprudence examination, and a passing score on the Georgia-specific ethics and jurisprudence component.

Licenses renew on a biennial cycle; renewal requires attestation of continuing education hours, current CPR certification at the healthcare-provider level, and disclosure of any disciplinary or criminal history.

Continuing education must include Board-specified hours in infection control and in Georgia jurisprudence and ethics, in addition to clinical subject matter; excess hours generally do not carry over to the next cycle.

Acceptable CE providers are typically those recognized by the American Dental Association's Continuing Education Recognition Program, regional accreditors, or the Board itself; self-study and non-approved online courses may not count.

Late renewal is permitted within a statutory grace period upon payment of a late fee; practicing during the grace period without renewal is prohibited and constitutes unlicensed practice.

A lapsed license beyond the grace period requires reinstatement, which may include a reinstatement fee, additional CE, and re-examination at the Board's discretion.

Continuing education records must be retained by the licensee for a period set by rule (commonly the current and preceding renewal cycle) and produced on audit.

Inactive or retired status may be available on application; an inactive licensee may not practice until restored to active status and current CE and CPR requirements are satisfied.

A license is a personal privilege, not a property right transferable to another person, and it must be displayed or available for inspection at the practice location as rules require.

Direct supervision means the dentist is physically present in the office and has examined the patient, and the dentist must be available during the procedure.

Indirect supervision means the dentist has authorized the procedure and examined the patient, but need not be physically present in the office at the time.

General supervision means the dentist has authorized the procedure but has not necessarily examined the patient before the service is delivered.

Under Georgia law, hygienists may perform supragingival and subgingival scaling, root planing, polishing, fluoride application, sealant placement, and dental hygiene assessment and charting under the applicable supervision level.

Local anesthesia and nitrous oxide-oxygen sedation administration by a hygienist require specific additional training, Board certification or permit, and a heightened supervision standard.

Hygienists may not diagnose, prescribe, perform irreversible surgical procedures, or place permanent restorations; orthodontic and restorative tasks are limited to reversible procedures the Board expressly authorizes.

A dental hygienist may provide dental hygiene services in certain public health, school, and institutional settings under a dentist's written protocol or standing order without the dentist on site, as authorized by statute.

The supervising dentist is responsible for the overall treatment plan and for ensuring that delegated procedures fall within the hygienist's training, licensure, and the Board's rules.

A hygienist must refer conditions outside the hygiene scope to the supervising dentist and may not independently alter a treatment plan.

Georgia adopts CDC infection prevention guidance for dental settings as the practice standard, including standard precautions applied to all patients regardless of known infectious status.

Hand hygiene with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub is required before and after glove use, after contact with blood or saliva, and between patient encounters.

Gloves, masks, protective eyewear, and gowns or jackets are required whenever splashes, spatter, or aerosols of blood or saliva are anticipated.

Critical and semicritical instruments must be cleaned, then sterilized by steam autoclave, dry heat, or an approved chemical sterilant; sterilization cycles must be monitored biologically and chemically and the results logged.

Single-use items such as needles, scalpel blades, and certain plastic barriers must never be reprocessed; sharps must be discarded immediately into a rigid, closable sharps container.

Clinical contact surfaces must be barrier-protected or cleaned and disinfected with an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant effective against tuberculocidal organisms between patients.

Dental unit waterlines must be maintained with an approved treatment and monitored to keep heterotrophic plate counts at or below the CDC-recommended threshold.

Needlestick and other exposure incidents require immediate washing, evaluation, and reporting under the practice's exposure control plan, consistent with OSHA bloodborne pathogens requirements.

The office must maintain a written infection control and exposure control plan, train staff at hire and annually, and document training and hepatitis B vaccination status.

A patient record must be legible, contemporaneous, dated, and authenticated by the treating provider, and must document the chief complaint, findings, diagnosis, treatment rendered, and instructions given.

Records are the property of the practice, but the patient has a right to a copy; a reasonable copying fee may be charged and records must be produced within the time required by law.

Records must be retained for the period required by Georgia law and Board rule (generally a minimum of several years after the last treatment), and longer for minors or where litigation is pending.

Alterations to a record must be made by addendum, never by obliterating or backdating an entry; falsifying or destroying records is a separate disciplinary ground.

Informed consent requires disclosure of the diagnosis, the nature and purpose of the proposed treatment, material risks and alternatives including no treatment, and the patient's voluntary agreement.

Consent may be oral or written depending on the procedure; written consent is expected for surgical, sedation, and other higher-risk procedures, and consent for minors must come from a parent or legal guardian.

Patient information is confidential and may be disclosed only with authorization, as required by law, for treatment, payment, or operations, or in response to a valid subpoena or court order.

Georgia law imposes specific duties for HIV and other sensitive test results, and unauthorized disclosure can create civil liability in addition to Board discipline.

Records must be transferred promptly and completely when a patient requests, and abandoning patients by refusing to provide records or continuing care is a disciplinary ground.

Grounds for discipline include fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining a license, unprofessional conduct, gross negligence or incompetence, and practicing while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

Other grounds include conviction of a felony or of a crime involving moral turpitude, aiding unlicensed practice, fee splitting, and violating Board rules or a Board order.

Patient abandonment, failing to refer when a condition exceeds the provider's competence, and practicing outside the licensed scope are each independently sanctionable.

Sanctions available to the Board range from a letter of concern or public reprimand through probation, suspension, revocation, and civil fines, and may include conditions such as additional CE or monitoring.

The Board may impose summary suspension where continued practice poses an immediate danger to the public, with a prompt post-suspension hearing.

Licensees must self-report certain arrests, convictions, and disciplinary actions taken by another state or agency within the time set by rule.

Advertising must not be false or misleading; guaranteeing results, claiming superiority without substantiation, and using patient testimonials in prohibited ways can be deceptive.

Confidential peer review and professional review protections exist under Georgia law to encourage candid review of care, but they do not shield the underlying misconduct from Board action.

A licensee has due process rights at a contested hearing, including notice, the opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine, and the right to appeal a final Board decision to superior court.

A dentist may delegate only those procedures that the delegatee is licensed, certified, or trained to perform and that the Board authorizes for that category of auxiliary.

Delegation does not transfer responsibility: the delegating dentist remains accountable for the patient's care and for the adequacy of supervision.

Dental assistants may perform expanded functions only with the appropriate Board-issued certification and under the supervision level the rule specifies for each function.

Referral to a specialist should be documented in the record, including the reason for referral, the urgency, and any pertinent findings transmitted to the receiving provider.

A hygienist practicing under a collaborative or public health arrangement must work under a written protocol with a dentist that defines services, supervision, and referral pathways.

Standing orders and protocols must be reviewed and signed by the supervising dentist, kept current, and made available to the hygienist and the Board on request.

Consultation and co-management require that each provider keep records of their own care and communicate findings; the treating dentist retains responsibility for the overall plan.

Delegating a procedure to an unlicensed person, or permitting an auxiliary to exceed certified duties, is a disciplinary ground for the delegator and for the auxiliary.