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

The statute's delegation authority applies only to procedures a dentist delegates to a dental assistant under the dentist's direct supervision and responsibility.

The one named exception lets a dentist delegate x-ray-taking without direct supervision to an assistant working in a state-owned or -operated correctional facility administered by the department of corrections, so long as the dentist is available to supervise the assistant remotely.

Neither source further defines what direct supervision itself requires (for example, on-site presence).

Beyond the general delegation authority in subsection (c), the statute separately authorizes a dental assistant who has completed a board-approved curriculum to apply medicaments for the control or prevention of dental caries, and to polish the coronal surface of teeth, both under a licensed dentist's direct supervision. 828 IAC 6-1-1 and 6-1-2 restate the same two authorizations and add an alternate path: an assistant employed in a dental practice for at least one year, or a graduate of a Commission on Dental Accreditation program, who has also completed the training in the next section, may perform either task.

The training and hour requirements for both are detailed separately below.

For caries prevention, the rule requires nine hours of didactic instruction covering ethics and jurisprudence, fluoride, and infection control; two hours of lab work with a mannequin and two live patients; and clinical competency on at least five patients under an Indiana dentist's or hygienist's observation, certified by affidavit.

Coronal polishing requires five didactic hours, two lab hours, and the same five-patient clinical competency and affidavit process.

The supervising dentist must verify the training before permitting either task, and the certificate must be publicly displayed.

An out-of-state-trained assistant must show equivalent coursework or complete the shortfall at a board-approved Indiana course.

A dentist may delegate the taking of x-ray images to a dental assistant, and the general rule is that this delegation happens under the dentist's direct supervision, the same standard that governs delegation generally.

The statute's only exception to direct supervision for x-rays is an assistant working in a state correctional facility, where a dentist may delegate x-rays without direct supervision as long as the dentist can supervise the assistant remotely.

Neither source names a separate radiography permit, course, or certification for a dental assistant taking x-rays outside that correctional-facility exception.

A dentist may not delegate procedures that require professional judgment and skill, such as diagnosis, treatment planning, the cutting of hard or soft tissue, or any intraoral impression that would lead to a final prosthetic appliance.

A dentist also may not delegate procedures allocated to a licensed dental hygienist under IC 25-13-1, except for the caries-prevention and coronal-polishing procedures separately authorized in subsections (g) and (h). 828 IAC 6-1-4 restates the same hygienist-procedure bar for the dental assistant rule: except for caries prevention and coronal polishing, procedures allocated to a licensed dental hygienist may not be delegated to a dental assistant.