Amd §§6606 & 6608, Ed L (as proposed in S.3157 & A.2341)
Authorizes the performance of certain dental hygiene services at voluntary foster care agency health facilities by a registered hygienist operating pursuant to a collaborative agreement between such hygienist and a dentist.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8784
IN SENATE
January 8, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the
performance of certain dental hygiene services at voluntary foster
care agency health facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 6606 of the education law, as
2 added by a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the education law relat-
3 ing to registered dental hygienists working without supervision but
4 within a collaborative practice agreement with a licensed dentist, as
5 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3157 and A. 2341, is amended to
6 read as follows:
7 4. The performance of services pursuant to a collaborative agreement
8 is authorized in the following settings: a hospital as defined in arti-
9 cle twenty-eight of the public health law, a voluntary foster care agen-
10 cy health facility licensed pursuant to article twenty-nine-I of the
11 public health law, an appropriately equipped school, a federally quali-
12 fied health center, a long-term care facility, a group home servicing
13 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a facility
14 serving veterans, a temporary housing facility, a prison, a drug treat-
15 ment facility, a domestic violence shelter, and appropriate settings in
16 which homebound residents are unable to be relocated for necessary
17 treatment.
18 § 2. Section 6608 of the education law, as amended by chapter 457 of
19 the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
20 § 6608. Definition of practice of registered dental assisting. The
21 practice of registered dental assisting is defined as providing support-
22 ive services to a dentist in such dentist's performance of dental
23 services authorized under this article. Such support shall include
24 providing patient education, taking preliminary medical histories and
25 vital signs to be reviewed by the dentist, placing and removing rubber
26 dams, selecting and prefitting provisional crowns, selecting and prefit-
27 ting orthodontic bands, removing orthodontic arch wires and ligature
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01024-02-6
S. 8784 2
1 ties, placing and removing matrix bands, taking impressions for study
2 casts or diagnostic casts, removing periodontal dressings, placing and
3 removing temporary restorations, application of topical fluoride
4 varnish, and such other dental supportive services authorized by the
5 dentist consistent with regulations promulgated by the commissioner,
6 provided that such functions are performed under the direct personal
7 supervision of a licensed dentist in the course of the performance of
8 dental services. Such services shall not include diagnosing and/or
9 performing surgical procedures, irreversible procedures or procedures
10 that would alter the hard or soft tissue of the oral and maxillofacial
11 area or any other procedures determined by the department. The practice
12 of registered dental assisting may be conducted in the office of any
13 licensed dentist or in any appropriately equipped school or public
14 institution but must be done under the direct personal supervision of a
15 licensed dentist. Direct personal supervision, for purposes of this
16 section, means supervision of dental procedures based on instructions
17 given by a licensed dentist in the course of a procedure who remains in
18 the dental office where the supportive services are being performed,
19 personally diagnoses the condition to be treated, personally authorizes
20 the procedures, and before dismissal of the patient, who remains the
21 responsibility of the licensed dentist, evaluates the services performed
22 by the registered dental assistant. Nothing herein authorizes a regis-
23 tered dental assistant to perform any of the services or functions
24 defined as part of the practice of dental hygiene in accordance with the
25 provisions of subdivision one of section sixty-six hundred six of this
26 article, except those functions authorized pursuant to this section. All
27 dental supportive services provided in this section may be performed by
28 currently registered dental hygienists either under a dentist's super-
29 vision, as defined in regulations of the commissioner, or, in the case
30 of a registered dental hygienist [working for a hospital as defined in
31 article twenty-eight of the public health law] performing services in a
32 practice setting authorized under subdivision four of section sixty-six
33 hundred six of this article, pursuant to a collaborative arrangement
34 with a licensed dentist in accordance with [subdivision one of] section
35 sixty-six hundred six of this article. Such collaborative arrangement
36 shall not obviate or supersede any law or regulation which requires
37 identified services to be performed under the personal supervision of a
38 dentist.
39 § 3. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
40 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the education law
41 relating to registered dental hygienists working without supervision but
42 within a collaborative practice agreement with a licensed dentist, as
43 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3157 and A. 2341, takes effect.
