Dental Assistant Requirements in Arizona: Registration, X-Ray Rules & Allowed Duties

Arizona's statute defines a dental assistant broadly as any person who acts as an assistant to a dentist, dental therapist or dental hygienist by rendering personal services to a patient in close proximity during treatment, observation or diagnostic procedures.

Beyond that base definition, the statute names an expanded function dental assistant who may perform certain restorative functions after board-approved training and exam, and an oral preventive assistant, a newer tier that board summary materials attribute to Laws 2025, Chapter 17 (not independently confirmed in the statute text itself), who may perform limited coronal calculus removal after a board-approved training course.

The statute does not set a general registration or licensing requirement for the base dental assistant tier.

It requires a passed board-approved exam before an assistant may expose radiographs or polish teeth, board-approved training and exam (or an out-of-state credential plus proof of clinical experience) before performing expanded functions, and a board-approved oral preventive assistant training course of at least 120 hours of didactic and clinical instruction, plus prerequisites, before practicing as an oral preventive assistant.

For Article 7, the article governing dental assistants, the Administrative Code defines direct supervision as a licensed dentist being present in the office and available to provide immediate treatment or care to a patient and observe the dental assistant's work.

General supervision means a licensed dentist is available for consultation, whether or not the dentist is in the office, over procedures or treatment the dentist has authorized and for which the dentist remains responsible.

Which duties an assistant may perform depends on which of these two levels applies.

Under a dentist's or licensed dental therapist's direct supervision, a dental assistant may place dental material in a patient's mouth on instruction, prepare teeth for restorations, remove excess cement and temporary cement, remove sutures, place and remove dental dams and matrix bands, fabricate and place interim restorations with temporary cement, apply sealants and topical fluorides, take final digital impressions for orthodontic appliances or prostheses, and prepare or observe a patient for nitrous oxide administration.

Under general supervision, a dental assistant may train patients in oral hygiene and preventive techniques and provide pre- and post-operative instructions, and may collect and record extraoral and intraoral condition information.

A dental assistant may expose radiographs for dental diagnostic purposes under a dentist's general supervision or an affiliated practice dental hygienist's direct supervision, but only after passing a board-approved examination.

An assistant who already holds a current out-of-state certificate or approval for taking dental radiographs that required a written radiography exam may instead apply for Arizona certification by credential, by submitting a sworn statement of eligibility and a letter from the issuing institution verifying compliance.

Under direct supervision, a dental assistant may prepare a patient for nitrous oxide analgesia administration on the direct instruction and in the presence of a dentist or licensed dental therapist, and may observe a patient during nitrous oxide analgesia as instructed by the dentist or licensed dental therapist.

The rule does not list a dental assistant among those who may administer the nitrous oxide itself.

An oral preventive assistant's scope is limited to removing plaque, calculus and stains with scalers or sonic or ultrasonic scaling devices, only on patients who have first received a periodontal evaluation and who are periodontally healthy or have localized mild gingivitis; the assistant may not use air polishing technology or treat patients with generalized recession, periodontal disease history, medical compromise, or sedation.

The assistant must inform and document to each patient that care was not provided by a licensed dental provider, post the completion certificate at the treatment location, and may practice only under a dentist's or dental hygienist's direct supervision; a dentist may supervise up to three oral preventive assistants at a time, a dental hygienist up to one.