Rule Development: Dental Hygienists Administering Local Infiltration Anesthesia

During the November 3, 2023, Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (TSBDE) meeting, the dental board approved publishing in the Texas Register for 30-day public comment a rule on the certification and standard of care for the administration of a local anesthetic agent by a dental hygienist as set out in House Bill 3824 from the 88^th Regular Legislative Session.

The Texas Dental Association (TDA) has been working extensively on the educational and clinical requirements for dental hygienists to administer local infiltration anesthesia. Although the legislation – HB 3824 – took effect on September 1, 2023, dentists are not able to delegate the duty to dental hygienists until the TSBDE adopts the final rule to administer the law as required by HB 3824.

The dental board will meet on February 2, 2024, to consider all public comments received from the draft rule’s publication in the Texas Register and will likely decide during that meeting whether to adopt the rule. The adopted rule will likely become effective 20 days after the TSBDE files it with the Texas Register for republication.

Once the rule is adopted, TDA will publish a notice in the TSBDE Update in the TDA Today.

Remember that delegating local anesthetic to a dental hygienist is limited to:

• Infiltration only;
• To non-sedated patients or patients only sedated with nitrous oxide/oxygen inhalation; and
• Only when the hygienist is providing hygiene services with the dental hygiene scope of practice.