News from Oregon
Oregon is now the first jurisdiction in the country to permit dental hygienists limited prescriptive authority. In rules recently adopted, the dental board limited the prohibition against prescription by a dental hygienist to exempt "fluoride, fluoride varnish, antimicrobial solutions for mouth rinsing or resorbable antimicrobial agents." The board explained that means that "a dental hygienist, after being authorized by a supervising dentist to do so, may prescribe any of those drugs for a patient. In addition, the current prohibition against a dental hygienist providing a diagnosis was clarified allow a dental hygienist to diagnose and treatment plan the need for dental hygiene services, provided she review her conclusions with a dentist. Finally, impressions for permanent prostheses was added to the dental hygiene scope.