VOLUME 27, ISSUE 1

THE LOCAL ANESTHETIC TIP OF THE ICEBERG IN TEXAS: THE NEXT SCOPE BATTLE – DENTAL HYGIENISTS

Currently, a Dentist in the State of Texas may administer anesthesia for dental procedures under the Texas Dental Act. However, dentists are prohibited from delegating authority to administer a local anesthetic agent, inhalation sedative agent, parenteral sedative agent or general anesthetic agent unless that authority is delegated to a physician anesthesiologist or a nurse anesthetist who has a permit from the Texas Dental Board. But that may change under H.B. 1409 by Representative Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) and S.B. 571 by Senator Jose Rodriguez (D – El Paso). These bills would allow a dentist to delegate a local anesthetic to a dental hygienist.

To receive a dental hygienist license in Texas, a person must graduate from high school or have a GED and graduate from an accredited dental hygienist program. In Texas there are 26 dental hygienist programs, but only three of them – associated with the three dental programs – offer a program beyond an associate’s degree.

Under H.B. 1409/S.B. 571, a dentist is allowed to delegate the administration of a local anesthetic to a dental hygienist who holds an unspecified bachelor’s degree or equivalent education determined by an unspecified Board and has been licensed within the past year to administer local anesthetic agents by the armed forces, another state or has passed a certification examination approved by an unspecified Board. Texas dental hygienists are required to have 12 hours of continuing education with up to six hours of self-study. Yet these bills do not require any overall increase in continuing education or even specify that continuing education include managing complications associated with local anesthetics, oral nerve blocks, or professional liability closed claims data or adult and pediatric advanced life support.

Despite this lack of additional training, the bills also amend the definition of the practice of dental hygiene to include the administration of    

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