Scope of Practice for Dental Hygienists
Core hygiene services
Maine dental hygienists provide oral assessment, dental hygiene care planning, prophylaxis, scaling and root planing, polishing, topical fluoride, sealants, radiographs, and patient education. They may administer local anesthesia and nitrous oxide only with the applicable Board permit and at the supervision level the Board specifies. The general hygiene license does not include diagnosing dental disease, prescribing drugs, or performing irreversible surgical procedures.
Permits expand technique, not the whole scope
Local anesthesia and nitrous oxide permits require additional Board-approved education, basic life support, and application. A permit authorizes that technique; it does not authorize every procedure a dentist may perform. Restorative functions are not part of the standard hygiene license unless a separate authorization exists.
Public health supervision
In specified community settings, a hygienist may provide preventive services under a written protocol with a dentist. The protocol should identify services, referral pathways, and emergency arrangements. This is supervision through a protocol, not an absence of supervision.
Worked example
A patient asks the hygienist to "just fill the small cavity." The hygienist must decline because restorative treatment is outside the hygiene scope absent a separate authorization. The hygienist can complete the hygiene assessment, scaling, polishing, fluoride, and refer the patient for restorative care.
Traps
Sealants and radiographs are hygiene services but still require dentist authorization at the correct supervision level. A local anesthesia certificate from another state does not automatically become a Maine permit. Do not describe public health supervision as "no supervision."