Regulation

In accordance with section 12(2) of the Health Professions Act, registrants are required to maintain compliance with the Dental Hygienists Regulation.

Dental Hygienists Regulation

1 - Definitions

In this regulation:

"dental hygiene" means the health profession in which a person provides the services of
  (a) assessing the status of teeth and adjacent tissues, and
  (b) providing preventive and therapeutic treatment for teeth and   
      adjacent tissues;

"dental hygiene diagnosis" means a clinical judgement made by a registrant of an individual's oral health condition to determine whether
  (a) the condition can be ameliorated or resolved by services that the
        registrant is authorized to provide, or
  (b) consulatation with, or transfer of responsibility for care to, 
        another professional is necessary or appropriate;

“dentist” means a person who is authorized under the Act to practise the designated health profession of dentistry;

“prescription" has the same meaning as in the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act; 

"substance" includes air and water but excludes a drug specified in Schedule I, IA, II or IV of the Drug Schedules Regulation.

2 - Designation

The name “College of Dental Hygienists of British Columbia” is the name of the college established under section 15(1) of the Health Professions Act for dental hygiene.

3 - Reserved Title

The title "dental hygienist" is reserved for exclusive use by registrants.

4 - Scope of Practice

A dental hygienist may practise dental hygiene.

5 - Restricted Activities

  (1) A registrant in the course of practising dental hygiene may do all 
       of the following:
       (a) make a dental hygiene diagnosis identifying gingivitis or
             periodontitis as the cause of the signs or symptoms of an
             individual;
      (b) perform scaling, dental debridement or root planing on the
            surfaces of the teeth for the purpose of preventing or treating
            an oral health condition;
      (c)  administer a substance by irrigation for the purpose of
             preventing or treating an oral health condition;
      (d) reduce a complete dislocation of a temporomandibular joint
            using manual therapy.

  (2) If standards, limits or conditions have been established under
        section 19 (1)(k) or (l) of the Act respecting the activity, a
        registrant in the course of practising dental hygiene may, during 
        assessment and for diagnostic or imaging purposes, apply
      (a) intra-oral X-rays, or
      (b) extra-oral X-rays for the purpose of implementing an
            authorization, issued by a person who is authorized under the
            Act to apply extra-oral X-rays, to do so in respect of a named
            individual.

  (3) Subject to subsection (4), a registrant in the course of practising
       dental hygiene may administer a drug specified in Schedule I or II
       of the Drug Schedules Regulation for the purpose of
      (a) treating an oral health condition, if administration is by
           topical application or irrigation, or
     (b) providing local anaesthesia,
              (i) if administration is by injection or topical application,
                   and
              (ii) if, before providing the service, the registrant has
                    successfully completed a certification program
                    established, required or approved under the bylaws to
                    ensure that registrants are qualified and competent to
                    provide that service.  

  (4) A registrant in the course of practising dental hygiene may not 
        administer a drug for which a prescription is required under the
        Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act unless the
        patient has a prescription for the drug.

  (5) Only a registrant who is a dental hygienist may provide a service
        that includes the performance of an activity set out in this
        section.

6 - Limitations or conditions on services

​  (1) In this section, "private dental hygiene practice" means the
        practice of dental hygiene in circumstances where, ordinarily, a
        dentist is not on site or immediately available.

  (2) A registrant who is a dental hygienist may not engage in private
        dental hygiene practice unless standards, limits or conditions
        respecting private dental hygiene practice have first been 
        established under section 19 (1) (k) or (l) of the Act.

  (3) A registrant who engages in private dental hygiene practice must,
        in the course of providing dental hygiene services to a patient, 
        recommend that the patient be examined by a dentist unless the
        dental hygienist
      (a) has reason to believe that the patient has recently been
           examined by a dentist, or
      (b) has recently recommended to the patient that the patient be     
           examined by a dentist.

  (4) A registrant must not perform permanent restoration procedures.

  (5) A registrant may perform the restricted activity described in
       sections 5 (1) (d) only if dislocation occurs in the course of 
       practising dental hygiene. 

7 - Patient Relations Program

The college is designated for the purposes of section 16 (2) (f) of the Health Professions Act.

8 - Health Profession Corporations

Part 4 of the Health Professions Act applies to dental hygiene.

[en. B.C. Reg.276/2008.]

[Provisions of the Health Professions Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 183, relevant to the enactment of this regulation: section 12 (2)]