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

Neither K.S.A. 65-1423 nor Article 71-6 requires a Kansas dental assistant to hold a license, registration or certificate to work.

The statute instead permits a "nonlicensed person" to perform most dental services simply by working under the supervision of a dentist licensed under the act, at that dentist's office, short of the acts the statute lists as restricted.

Article 71-6 defines one supervision term, direct supervision: the dentist must be in the dental office, personally diagnose the condition and authorize the procedure, and evaluate the assistant's performance — or have another board-licensed person evaluate it — before the patient is dismissed.

Direct supervision is the standard K.A.R. 71-6-2 and 71-6-6 require for coronal scaling and coronal polishing.

The broader statutory permission in K.S.A. 65-1423(a)(8) for other dental services asks only that a licensed dentist supervise the work at that dentist's office; it does not say whether that supervision must meet the direct-supervision definition.

K.S.A. 65-1423(a)(8) lets a person who is not a licensed dentist perform any dental service of any kind while working under a licensed dentist's supervision at that dentist's office, aside from the acts the statute lists as off-limits.

Two prophylaxis tasks are named specifically: K.A.R. 71-6-6 lets a licensed dentist delegate coronal polishing to a nonlicensed person under direct supervision and training in polishing technique, and K.A.R. 71-6-2 lets a nonlicensed person coronal scale above the gum line under a Kansas-licensed dentist's direct supervision once the person holds a certificate from the approved instruction course K.A.R. 71-6-3 describes.

K.S.A. 65-1423(a)(7) carves the use of x-ray machines for making dental radiographs out of the act entirely, as long as the work is done under the supervision of a licensed dentist or physician.

Neither file sets a training program, credential or certification requirement for the person operating the machine; the statute's only added condition is a ban on advertising the x-ray service as an inducement to attract patients.

K.S.A. 65-1423(a)(8) bars a nonlicensed person from five kinds of dental operations: any removal of or addition to the hard or soft tissue of the oral cavity, any diagnosis of or prescription for a dental condition, any correction of a malformation of the teeth or jaws, any administration of general or local anesthesia, and any prophylaxis other than the two named exceptions for coronal polishing and coronal scaling above the gum line.

K.A.R. 71-6-4 adds that subgingival scaling — the portion below the gum line — must be performed by a licensed hygienist or dentist, even when a nonlicensed person handles the coronal portion of the same prophylaxis.

The statute's definition of the general or local anesthesia a nonlicensed person may never administer specifically excludes the administration and monitoring of the analgesic use of nitrous oxide or oxygen, or both.

That exclusion is the only place either file addresses nitrous oxide; neither sets a training or certification requirement for a nonlicensed person who administers or monitors it.

K.A.R. 71-6-3 requires the approved instruction course for coronal scaling to run a minimum of 90 hours, keep a student-instructor ratio consistent with American Dental Association accreditation standards, cover topics from anatomy and periodontal disease to sterilization, fluoride, instrumentation, and both coronal scaling and polishing, include an outcome assessment exam, and end with a certificate naming the student and completion date.

Once a supervising dentist lets a nonlicensed person coronal scale, K.A.R. 71-6-5 requires the dentist verify that person's training certificate and report the person's name and practice location to the board within 30 days.