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

To become a licensed dental assistant, an applicant must give the board a completed application, current government-issued identification, the statutory fee, evidence of graduating a Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)-accredited dental assisting school, evidence of passing the board's state licensing exam and a national board exam within the past five years, evidence of passing the board's jurisprudence exam within the past five years, documentation of current CPR certification, and a criminal background check.

An applicant who fails the state licensing exam twice on any part must complete additional board-specified education covering the failed subject areas before retaking it.

The rules set four supervision levels, in descending order of restriction.

Personal supervision means the dentist is personally operating on a patient and authorizes the assistant to aid concurrently; direct supervision means the dentist is in the office, personally diagnoses and authorizes the procedure, and evaluates the assistant's performance before the patient is dismissed; indirect supervision means the dentist is in the office, authorizes the procedure, and remains in the office while it is performed; and general supervision means the dentist need not be present in the office or on the premises while the task is performed, so long as the dentist had prior knowledge of and consented to it.

Under general supervision a licensed dental assistant may, among other tasks, cut or remove loose orthodontic arch wires and brackets, re-cement intact temporary crowns, place temporary fillings, take radiographs, take impressions and bite registration, and take vital signs.

Under indirect supervision the list adds applying topical medications, polishing clinical crowns, monitoring a patient the dentist has induced into nitrous oxide, and drying root canals with paper points.

Under direct supervision the assistant may fabricate and cement temporary crowns, place matrix systems and wedges, administer nitrous oxide, and, after board certification, administer limited local anesthesia or manage IV lines for a sedation-certified dentist.

Under personal supervision, a certified assistant may aid a dentist with a sedation certificate in administering medications into an existing IV line.

Taking radiographs is listed as one of the procedures a licensed dental assistant may perform under general supervision.

A person who is not a licensed dental assistant can instead take dental radiographs under a dentist's general supervision by holding a limited radiology registration, which requires a completed application, government ID, the fee, evidence of a CODA-accredited radiology course, evidence of passing a board-approved nationally recognized radiation exam within the past five years, the jurisprudence exam, CPR documentation and a criminal background check.

Anyone registered to take radiographs under general supervision before January 1, 2021 is grandfathered out of the current registration requirements.

A licensed dental assistant may only perform procedures listed in the delegable duty list, completing any additional required coursework or in-office training the rule specifies for a given task; anything not on that list is off limits.

The same restriction applies to the narrower assistant-without-a-license tier: neither tier may perform any dental treatment or procedure on a patient that this chapter does not otherwise authorize.

Under indirect supervision, a licensed dental assistant may monitor a patient the dentist has already induced into nitrous oxide inhalation analgesia.

Under direct supervision, a licensed dental assistant may administer nitrous oxide inhalation analgesia, but must be under a licensed dentist's direct supervision to do so.

An assistant who graduated a Minnesota dental assisting program after September 2, 2004 may administer nitrous oxide with no further requirement; one who graduated earlier, or from another U.S. jurisdiction or Canadian province, must complete an application, a CODA-accredited course of at least 12 hours covering didactic instruction, hands-on management of at least three analgesia cases, and clinical experience with fail-safe equipment, plus current CPR certification.

A licensed dental assistant must complete 25 hours of professional development in each biennial (24-month) renewal cycle, tracked in a personal portfolio.

At least 15 of those hours must be fundamental activities directly related to clinical dental services -- which must include a mandatory infection-control course -- and no more than 10 hours can be elective activities such as convention attendance, volunteer work or professional reading.

Hours earned beyond the 25-hour requirement do not carry forward to the next cycle.

An assistant without a license may perform a narrow set of chairside procedures -- retracting cheek or tongue tissue, placing or removing isolation devices as directed, removing debris or water with suction, and placing articles or topical medication in the mouth -- only while the dentist or dental therapist is personally treating the patient and concurrently authorizes the help.

Under general supervision this tier may also apply fluoride varnish without the dentist on the premises, if the prescribing practitioner had prior knowledge of and consented to it.

Whoever supervises an assistant without a license under these rules must ensure the assistant completes and maintains CPR certification and complies with current infection-control practices for a dental setting.