Governor Hochul has signed into law, as Chapter 682 of the Laws of 2025, the NYSDA dental hygiene collaborative practice expansion bill – A.2341 (Paulin) / S.3157 (May).  The Governor’s Approval Memorandum #62 is attached here: Governor Approval Memorandum #62 Dental Hygiene Collaborative Practice Expansion Bill.  A copy of the bill is below as is the Sponsor Memorandum explaining the bill.  The law takes effect 18 months after having been signed into law on December 19, 2025, or June 19, 2027, to be precise.  The new law will require agreed on chapter amendments in 2026.

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                                          3157

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                                    January 23, 2025

                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  MAY  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when

          printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law,  in  relation  to  registered  dental

          hygienists  working  without  supervision  but  within a collaborative

          practice agreement with a licensed dentist

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-

        bly, do enact as follows:

  1      Section  1.   Section 6606 of the education law, as amended by chapter

  2    244 of the laws of 1973, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 239 of  the

  3    laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:

  4      § 6606. Definition  of practice of dental hygiene.  1. The practice of

  5    the profession of dental hygiene is defined as the performance of dental

  6    services which shall include removing  calcareous  deposits,  accretions

  7    and  stains  from  the  exposed surfaces of the teeth which begin at the

  8    epithelial attachment  and  applying  topical  agents  indicated  for  a

  9    complete dental prophylaxis, removing cement, placing or removing rubber

10    dam, removing sutures, placing matrix band, providing patient education,

11    applying  topical  medication,  placing  and  exposing diagnostic dental

12    X-ray films, performing topical fluoride applications and topical  anes-

13    thetic  applications,  polishing teeth, taking medical history, charting

14    caries, taking impressions for study casts, placing and removing  tempo-

15    rary  restorations, administering and monitoring nitrous oxide analgesia

16    and administering and monitoring local infiltration anesthesia,  subject

17    to  certification in accordance with section sixty-six hundred five-b of

18    this article, and any other function in the definition of  the  practice

19    of  dentistry  as  may  be delegated by a licensed dentist in accordance

20    with regulations promulgated by the commissioner. The practice of dental

21    hygiene may be conducted in the office of any licensed dentist or in any

22    appropriately equipped school or public institution but [must] shall  be

23    done either under the supervision of a licensed dentist or[, in the case

24    of  a  registered  dental hygienist working for a hospital as defined in]

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                                   LBD01024-01-5

        S. 3157                             2

  1    [article twenty-eight of the public health law, pursuant to a  collabora-

  2    tive arrangement with a licensed and registered dentist who has a formal

  3    relationship  with  the  same  hospital  in  accordance with regulations

  4    promulgated  by  the  department  in consultation with the department of

  5    health] may be performed by a registered dental hygienist designated  as

  6    a  registered  dental hygienist, collaborative practice in collaboration

  7    with a licensed dentist provided such services are performed in  accord-

  8    ance with a written practice agreement and written practice protocols to

  9    be  known  as  a collaborative practice agreement. Under a collaborative

10    practice agreement, dental hygienists may perform all services which are

11    designated in regulation under general supervision without prior  evalu-

12    ation  of a dentist or medical professional and may be performed without

13    supervision in an authorized setting as defined in subdivision  four  of

14    this  section.  Such  collaborative  [arrangement]  agreements shall not

15    obviate or supersede any law or  regulation  which  requires  identified

16    services  to  be  performed under the personal supervision of a dentist.

17    [When dental hygiene services are provided pursuant to  a  collaborative

18    agreement,  such  dental hygienist shall instruct individuals to visit a

19    licensed dentist for comprehensive examination or treatment.]

20      2. The collaborative practice agreement shall:

21      (a) be signed and maintained by the dentist, the dental hygienist  and

22    authorized setting;

23      (b) be reviewed annually by the dentist and dental hygienist;

24      (c) include consideration for medically compromised patients, specific

25    medical  conditions, and age- and procedure-specific practice protocols,

26    including, but not limited to recommended intervals for the  performance

27    of  dental  hygiene services  and  a periodicity in which an examination

28    by a dentist should occur; and

29      (d)  be  made available to the department and other interested parties

30    upon request.

31      3. Before performing services pursuant  to  a  collaborative  practice

32    agreement,  a dental hygienist, collaborative practice shall provide the

33    patient with a written statement advising the patient  that  the  dental

34    hygiene  services provided are not a substitute for a dental examination

35    by a licensed dentist. If the dental hygienist makes  any  referrals  to

36    the  patient for further procedures, the dental hygienist shall fill out

37    a referral form and provide a copy of  the  form  to  the  collaborating

38    dentist.

39      4.  The  performance of services pursuant to a collaborative agreement

40    is authorized in the following settings: a hospital as defined in  arti-

41    cle  twenty-eight  of  the  public health law, an appropriately equipped

42    school, a federally qualified health center, a long-term care  facility,

43    a  group home servicing people with intellectual and developmental disa-

44    bilities, a facility serving veterans, a temporary housing  facility,  a

45    prison,  a  drug  treatment  facility,  a domestic violence shelter, and

46    appropriate settings in which homebound residents are unable to be relo-

47    cated for necessary treatment.

48      5. A registered  dental  hygienist, collaborative practice shall  have

49    no more than one collaborative agreement  with  a dentist at one time.

50      6.  A  dentist shall not have a collaborative agreement with more than

51    six registered dental hygienists, collaborative practice  at  one  time.

52    The  department  may  grant  an  exception to such limitation for public

53    health settings on a case-by-case basis.

54      7. A dental hygienist shall file an application with the department to

55    practice as a registered dental hygienist,  collaborative  practice  and

56    pay  a fee determined by the department. As a condition of collaborative

        S. 3157                             3

  1    practice, the dental hygienist shall have been engaged in  practice  for

  2    three  years with a minimum of four thousand five hundred practice hours

  3    and shall complete  an  eight-hour  continuing  education  program  that

  4    includes  instruction  in medical emergency procedures, risk management,

  5    dental hygiene jurisprudence and professional ethics.

  6      8. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations  defining  the  func-

  7    tions a dental hygienist may perform that are consistent with the train-

  8    ing and qualifications for a license as a dental hygienist.

  9      §  2.  This  act shall take effect eighteen months after it shall have

10    become a law.