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June 26, 2008

Editor's Note: To follow are summaries from Indiana and Virginia about current legislative efforts regarding dental assistants.

A Victory for Indiana Dental Assistants
by Cathy J. Roberts, CDA, EFDA, COA, CDPMA, MADAA
Indiana Dental Assistants Association Legislative Chairman

This year the Indiana General Assembly passed the first major change to the Indiana Dental Practice Act in more than 40 years.

Working with the Indiana Dental Association and the Indiana Dental Hygiene Association, we successfully lobbied to add a definition of "dental assistant" to the statute and, with education and training, allow assistants to perform coronal polishing and application of caries preventive agents. Dental hygienists will be allowed prescriptive supervision in approved settings and to administer local anesthesia under direct supervision.

This legislation was the culmination of many factors. Last year, a state senator addressed the Indiana Dental Association House of Delegates and told the dentists they needed to be more proactive in finding ways to improve access to care for Hoosiers.

The Indiana Dental Assistants House of Delegates budgeted for a lobbyist, as we felt there might be legislation coming from the IDA and a special House of Delegates called by the IDA. IDAA also applied for ADAA Legislative Funds because the lobbyist would be expensive.

The IDAA hired a lobbyist for the 2008 session and began meeting with the IDA concerning changes to the dental law. The IDAA Legislative Committee came prepared with our recommendations and brought our lobbyist along. This was very beneficial as she had insight into what the legislators would need, and it demonstrated to the IDA that we were very serious about this legislation. Our lobbyist worked with the IDA lobbyist on the bill that would be submitted.

Since the legislative session started in January, the IDA thought we might not be able to find a sponsor to introduce the bill, but we found a sponsor with one simple phone call. She added our bill to another one that concerned health profession issues. It was finalized and submitted in the Indiana House of Representatives.

The IDAA and IDA lobbyists worked together to educate the state senators and representatives, as well as our members by calling and sending e-mails to them. Without the help of our lobbyist and members, we would not have been successful and the outcome might have been different.

The Indiana Dental Hygiene Association also had a lobbyist and their own agenda. It's important to educate the legislators to your cause and have facts for them to review. Most legislators do not know about dental assistants or the duties we perform in dental offices.

Now the work begins with the Indiana State Board of Dentistry to write rules and approve educational programs so that Indiana dental assistants can receive the education and training they will need to perform the newly delegated duties.

The Indiana Dental Assistants Association is grateful to the ADAA for the Legislative Assistance Funds that were used to help pay the expenses for the lobbyist.

Reprinted with permission from The Dental Assistant, May/June 2008

Senate Bill No. 151 passes in Virginia
by Carol A. Walsh, CDA, CDPMA
President-Elect, Virginia Dental Assistants Association

Senate Bill No. 151 passed with a vote of 97-0. The bill creates statutory definitions for dental assistants and establishes an advanced level of dental assistant that requires additional training and registration (to be known as dental assistant II).

On June 6, 2008, the Virginia Board of Dentistry adopted the Notice of Intended Regulatory Action on this bill. They asked the regulatory-legislative committee to form an advisory committee comprised of representatives of the affected dental and educational professional organizations. The advisory committee will report to the regulatory-legislative committee regarding development of the regulations.

The link to the Web site is bill. On the left side of the page is an area to "enter a bill number." Enter SB151 in the block, (with no space between the letters and numbers).

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