dental hygiene services provided are not a substitute for a dental examination by a licensed dentist. When
the patient requires a referral for additional dental services, the dental hygienist shall complete a referral
form and provide a copy to the patient, the facility, if applicable, the dentist to whom the patient is being
referred, and the collaborating dentist, if specified in the collaborative agreement. A copy of the referral
form shall be maintained in the patient's health care record. The patient does not become a new patient of
record of the dentist to whom the patient was referred until the dentist accepts the patient for follow-up
services after referral from the dental hygienist.
(e) For the purposes of this subdivision, a "health care facility, program, or nonprofit organization"
includes a hospital; nursing home; home health agency; group home serving the elderly, disabled, or juveniles;
state-operated facility licensed by the commissioner of human services or the commissioner of corrections;
a state-agency-administered public health program or event; and federal, state, or local public health facility,
community clinic, tribal clinic, school authority, Head Start program, or nonprofit organization that serves
individuals who are uninsured or who are Minnesota health care public program recipients.
(f) For purposes of this subdivision, a "collaborative agreement" means a written agreement with a
licensed dentist who authorizes and accepts responsibility for the services performed by the dental hygienist.
(g) A collaborative practice dental hygienist must be reimbursed for all services performed through a
health care facility, program, nonprofit organization, or licensed dentist.
Subd. 2. Dental assistants. Every licensed dentist and dental therapist who uses the services of any
unlicensed person for the purpose of assistance in the practice of dentistry or dental therapy shall be
responsible for the acts of such unlicensed person while engaged in such assistance. The dentist or dental
therapist shall permit the unlicensed assistant to perform only those acts which are authorized to be delegated
to unlicensed assistants by the Board of Dentistry. The acts shall be performed under supervision of a licensed
dentist or dental therapist. A licensed dental therapist shall not supervise more than four licensed or unlicensed
dental assistants at any one practice setting. The board may permit differing levels of dental assistance based
upon recognized educational standards, approved by the board, for the training of dental assistants. The
board may also define by rule the scope of practice of licensed and unlicensed dental assistants. The board
by rule may require continuing education for differing levels of dental assistants, as a condition to their
license or authority to perform their authorized duties. Any licensed dentist or dental therapist who permits
an unlicensed assistant to perform any dental service other than that authorized by the board shall be deemed
to be enabling an unlicensed person to practice dentistry, and commission of such an act by an unlicensed
assistant shall constitute a violation of sections 150A.01 to 150A.12.
Subd. 2a. Collaborative practice authorization for dental assistants in community settings. (a)
Notwithstanding subdivision 2, a dental assistant licensed under this chapter may be employed or retained
by a health care facility, program, or nonprofit organization as defined in subdivision 1a to perform the
dental assisting services described in paragraph (b) without the patient first being examined by a licensed
dentist, without a dentist's diagnosis or treatment plan, and without the dentist being present at the location
where services are being performed, if:
(1) the dental assistant has entered into a collaborative agreement with a licensed dentist, which must
be part of a collaborative agreement established between a licensed dentist and a dental hygienist under
subdivision 1a, that designates authorization for the services provided by the dental assistant; and
(2) the dental assistant has documented completion of a course on medical emergencies within each
continuing education cycle.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes
2MINNESOTA STATUTES 2023150A.10
