HB2460 - 531R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 32-1201, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-1201. Definitions

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Auxiliary personnel" means all dental assistants, dental technicians, dental x‑ray technicians and other persons employed by dentists or firms and businesses providing dental services to dentists.

2. "Board" means the state board of dental examiners.

3. "Business entity" means a business organization that has an ownership that includes any persons who are not licensed or certified to provide dental services in this state, that offers to the public professional services regulated by the board and that is established pursuant to the laws of any state or foreign country.

4. "Dental assistant" means any person who acts as an assistant to a dentist or a dental hygienist by rendering personal services to a patient that involve close proximity to the patient while the patient is under treatment or observation or undergoing diagnostic procedures.

5. "Dental hygienist" means any person licensed and engaged in the general practice of dental hygiene and all related and associated duties, including educational, clinical and therapeutic dental hygiene procedures.

6. "Dental incompetence" means lacking in sufficient dentistry knowledge or skills, or both, in that field of dentistry in which the dentist, denturist or dental hygienist concerned engages, to a degree likely to endanger the health of that person's patients.

7. "Dental laboratory technician" means any person, other than a licensed dentist, who, pursuant to a written work order of a dentist, fabricates artificial teeth, prosthetic appliances or other mechanical and artificial contrivances designed to correct or alleviate injuries or defects, both developmental and acquired, disorders or deficiencies of the human oral cavity, teeth, investing tissues, maxilla or mandible or adjacent associated structures.

8. "Dental x‑ray laboratory technician" means any person, other than a licensed dentist, who, pursuant to a written work order of a dentist, performs dental and maxillofacial radiography, including cephalometrics, panoramic and maxillofacial tomography and other dental related non‑fluoroscopic diagnostic imaging modalities.

9. "Dentistry", "dentist" and "dental" means the general practice of dentistry and all specialties or restricted practices of dentistry.

10. "Denturist" means a person practicing denture technology pursuant to article 5 of this chapter.

11. "Disciplinary action" means regulatory sanctions that are imposed by the board in combination with, or as an alternative to, revocation or suspension of a license and that may include:

(a) Imposition of an administrative penalty in an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars for each violation of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter.

(b) Imposition of restrictions on the scope of practice.

(d) Imposition of censure or probation requirements best adapted to protect the public welfare, which may include a requirement for restitution to the patient resulting from violations of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter.

12. "Irregularities in billing" means submitting any claim, bill or government assistance claim to any patient, responsible party or third‑party payor for dental services rendered that is materially false with the intent to receive unearned income as evidenced by any of the following:

(a) Charges for services not rendered.

(b) Any treatment date that does not accurately reflect the date when the service and procedures were actually completed.

(d) Any charge for a service or procedure that cannot be clinically justified or determined to be necessary.

(e) Any statement that is material to the claim and that the licensee knows is false or misleading.

(f) An abrogation of the copayment provisions of a dental insurance contract by a waiver of all or a part of the copayment from the patient if this results in an excessive or fraudulent charge to a third party or if the waiver is used as an enticement to receive dental services from that provider. This subdivision does not interfere with a contractual relationship between a third‑party payor and a licensee or business entity registered with the board.

(g) Any other practice in billing that results in excessive or fraudulent charges to the patient.

13. "Letter of concern" means an advisory letter to notify a licensee or a registered business entity that, while the evidence does not warrant disciplinary action, the board believes that the licensee or registered business entity should modify or eliminate certain practices and that continuation of the activities that led to the information being submitted to the board may result in board action against the practitioner's license or the business entity's registration. A letter of concern is not a disciplinary action. A letter of concern is a public document and may be used in a future disciplinary action.

14. "Licensed" means licensed pursuant to this chapter.

15. "Place of practice" means each physical location at which a person licensed pursuant to this chapter performs services subject to this chapter.

16. "Primary mailing address" means the address on file with the board and to which official board correspondence, notices or documents are delivered in a manner determined by the board.

17. "Recognized dental hygiene school" means a school that has a dental hygiene program with a minimum two academic year curriculum, or the equivalent of four semesters, and that is approved by the board and accredited by the American dental association commission on dental accreditation.

18. "Recognized dental school" means a dental school accredited by the American dental association commission on dental accreditation.

19. "Recognized denturist school" means a denturist school that maintains standards of entrance, study and graduation and that is accredited by the United States department of education or the council on higher education accreditation.

20. "Supervised personnel" means all dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental laboratory technicians, denturists, dental x‑ray laboratory technicians and other persons supervised by licensed dentists.

21. "Teeth‑whitening equipment":

(a) Includes teeth‑whitening trays, teeth‑whitening applicator pens, vitamin E swabs, teeth wipes, cheek retractors, chairs, emesis bowls and LED whitening lights.

(b) Does not include lasers or high‑temperature lamps, such as halogen lamps.

22. "Teeth‑whitening materials" means nonprescription teeth‑whitening powders or gels, including those that contain carbamide peroxide, hydrogen peroxide or over‑the‑counter whitening agents.

23. "Teeth‑whitening services" means any of the following:

(a) Discussing the use of teeth‑whitening equipment and teeth‑whitening materials with a consumer who is interested in purchasing the materials.

(b) Providing instruction on the use of teeth‑whitening equipment and teeth‑whitening materials to a consumer using the equipment and materials.

(d) Providing other incidental assistance and instruction before, during or after the teeth‑whitening process, including the adjustment of chairs, the positioning of teeth‑whitening lights and the disposal of discarded teeth‑whitening materials.

21. 24. "Teledentistry" means the use of data transmitted through interactive audio, video or data communications for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment planning, consultation and directing the delivery of treatment by dentists and dental providers in settings permissible under this chapter or specified in rules adopted by the board. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 32-1231, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE32-1231. Persons not required to be licensed

This chapter does not prohibit:

1. A dentist or dental hygienist who is officially employed in the service of the United States from practicing dentistry in the dentist's or dental hygienist's official capacity, within the scope of that person's authority, on persons enlisted in, directly connected with or under the immediate control of some branch of service of the United States.

2. An intern or student of dentistry or dental hygiene from operating in the clinical departments or laboratories of a recognized dental school, dental hygiene school or hospital under the supervision of a dentist.

3. An unlicensed person from performing for a licensed dentist merely mechanical work on inert matter not within the oral cavity in the construction, making, alteration or repairing of any artificial dental substitute or any dental restorative or corrective appliance, if the casts or impressions for that work have been furnished by a licensed dentist and the work is directly supervised by the dentist for whom done or under a written authorization signed by the dentist, but the burden of proving that written authorization or direct supervision is on the person charged with having violated this provision.

4. A clinician who is not licensed in this state from giving demonstrations, before bona fide dental societies, study clubs and groups of professional students, that are free to the persons on whom made.

5. The state director of dental public health from performing the director's administrative duties as prescribed by law.

6. A dentist or dental hygienist to whom a restricted permit has been issued from practicing dentistry or dental hygiene in this state as provided in sections 32‑1237 and 32-1292.

7. A dentist or dental hygienist who is not practicing on the public at large from practicing in a recognized dental school or a recognized dental hygiene school.

8. A person from providing teeth‑whitening services in a business entity that is not registered with the board if the person does all of the following:

(a) Discloses to customers that the teeth‑whitening services being provided are not regulated by this state by posting, in a conspicuous location in the reception area of the business entity, a sign that contains lettering that is at least one‑inch high and that states: "teeth‑whitening services are an unregulated service offered by (person's name)."

(b) Discards teeth‑whitening trays, teeth‑whitening applicator pens, vitamin E swabs, teeth wipes, emesis bowls, cheek retractors and disposable plastic barrier sleeves after their use by customers.

(d) If using LED whitening lights intended for placement in a customer's mouth, covers the LED light with a disposable plastic barrier sleeve. END_STATUTE