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

Nevada's administrative code governs an ordinary dental assistant through the employing dentist's authorization and supervision rather than a state license.

The Legislature separately created a licensed expanded function dental assistant category in 2023, defined as a person licensed under the chapter who performs expanded function dental assistance -- educational, preventive, therapeutic, palliative and restorative intraoral or extraoral procedures -- under a dentist's supervision.

NRS 631.3129 gives that licensed tier a broader authorized-acts list, including placing and finishing direct restorations, taking final impressions for crowns and dentures, and cementing permanent restorations with the authorizing dentist's sign-off.

An ordinary dental assistant files no application and holds no Board license; NAC 631.220 governs that tier through the employing dentist's authorization.

The expanded function dental assistant tier is licensed: an applicant must be over 18, hold current CPR certification, pass the Board's written clinical exam and its jurisprudence exam, and show either graduation from an accredited expanded-function program or completion of expanded-function training plus qualifying dental assistant experience or a passing score on the exam for Certified Dental Assistants administered by the Dental Assisting National Board.

A license by endorsement is available to an applicant already licensed as an EFDA in another state or territory.

Nevada's administrative code defines "direct supervision" only for dental therapists: the dentist must document the therapist's name, examine the patient before and after the procedure, and give treatment instructions beforehand.

NAC 631.009 says that definition applies for purposes of NRS 631.3122, the dental therapist supervision statute, not for dental assistants.

For a dental assistant, NRS 631.313 instead requires only that assigned tasks be performed under the supervision of the licensed dentist who made the assignment, without the therapist-specific documentation or pre- and post-exam requirements.

Before the dentist examines the patient, a supervising dentist may authorize an employed assistant to expose radiographs and take diagnostic impressions.

After the exam, the dentist may authorize a longer list: tissue retraction, debris removal by suction or air, placing or removing a rubber dam, orthodontic ligatures, suture removal, periodontal packs, hand-only cement removal, non-aerosol topical anesthetic, oral-hygiene instruction, certain preliminary and temporary impressions, temporary crowns and bridges checked by the dentist, unmedicated gingival retraction cord, coronal polishing, topical fluoride, pit-and-fissure sealants, and fitting orthodontic bands the dentist cemented or bonded.

NAC 631.220 also lets a dentist authorize a therapist or hygienist to supervise an assistant in further procedures the source text does not list.

An assistant may expose radiographs under a supervising dentist's authorization, and may do so before the patient's exam.

Nevada issues no separate radiography license for assistants; instead NAC 631.260 requires a lead apron on every patient undergoing a radiographic procedure, and requires the employing dentist to attest, with each license renewal, that every non-hygienist, non-therapist employee taking radiographs received adequate instruction and is qualified to operate the equipment, plus biennial CPR training, at least 4 hours of infection-control continuing education every 2 years, and a copy of the chapter before starting the job.

NRS 631.313 bars a dentist from assigning a dental assistant any intraoral task that requires diagnosis, treatment planning, prescribing drugs or medicaments, or authorizing restorative, prosthodontic or orthodontic appliances; surgery on hard or soft intraoral tissue or any procedure that could irremediably alter the oral anatomy; or the administration of general anesthesia, minimal sedation, moderate sedation or deep sedation, except as the Board's regulations otherwise authorize.

An assistant also cannot be assigned a task outside the assignee's authorized scope of practice.

Separately, NAC 631.220 bars a dental assistant from using a rotary cutting instrument to remove excess cement from restorations or orthodontic appliances.

The attestation that lets an assistant keep taking radiographs must show at least 4 hours of infection-control continuing education every 2 years, on top of biennial CPR training.

An expanded function dental assistant's license renews every 2 years and, like other licenses under the chapter, requires proof of completed continuing education submitted with the renewal fee before the Board grants a further 2 years of practice.