SB 1124
Initials AG Page 1 Health & Human Services
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
Senate: HHS DPA 5-1-1-0 | 3
rd
Read 29-0-1-0
SB 1124: dental board; oral preventive assistants
Sponsor: Senator Shope, LD 16
Committee on Health & Human Services
Overview
Provides a process for a dental assistant to become an oral preventive assistant (OPA) if all
conditions are met. Establishes the scope of practice for OPAs and contains reporting
requirements for the Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners (Board) regarding OPAs.
History
The Board regulates and licenses dental professionals, including dentists, dental hygienists,
dental assistants, dental consultants, dental therapists and denturists. It reviews complaints
against licensees and business entities, conducts investigations and is authorized to take
disciplinary action for violations of state laws relating to the profession (A.R.S. §§ 32-1201
through 32-1299.26).
Dental assistants aid dentists, dental therapists or dental hygienists by rendering personal
services to a patient that involves proximity while the patient is under treatment or
observation or undergoing diagnostic procedures. Dental assistants may expose radiographs
for dental diagnostic purposes or polish the natural and restored surfaces of the teeth under
either the general supervision of a dentist or the direct supervision of an affiliated practice
dental hygienist licensed if the assistant has passed an examination approved by the Board
(A.R.S. § 32-1291).
Dental assistants may perform certain expanded functions after meeting one of the following:
1) successfully completing a Board-approved expanded function dental assistant training
program and successfully completing the Board-approved examination in the expanded
function; and 2) providing evidence of currently holding or having held within the preceding
10 years a license registration, permit or certificate in expanded functions in restorative
procedures issued by another state or jurisdiction and acceptable proof of clinical experience
in the expanded functions. These expanded functions include the placement, contouring and
finishing of direct restorations or the placement and cementation of prefabricated crowns
following the preparation of the tooth by a licensed dentist (A.R.S. § 32-1291.01).
An OPA is a type of expanded function dental assistant who has taken the required education
and completed training to provide patients with additional preventive services and can assist
hygienists with preventive care practices. These services include removing hard build up on
visible, healthy teeth or on patients with reversible gum inflammation (American Dental
Association).
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note SB 1124
Initials AG Page 2 Health & Human Services
Provisions
1. Requires a dental assistant to complete a Board-approved OPA training course that
includes at least 120 hours of didactic and clinical instruction with patients that is
provided by a qualifying institution to practice as an OPA. (Sec. 1)
2. Requires a dental assistant, before taking an OPA training course, to meet all the
following:
a) hold a current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
b) hold a Board-approved certification in coronal polishing and radiography; and
c) either hold a current national board certification in dental assisting or have
successfully completed a dental assisting educational program accredited by a state
or national organization that accredits dental programs. (Sec. 1)
3. Limits the scope of practice of an OPA to the removal of plaque, calculus and stains, with
scalers or sonic or ultrasonic scaling devices on patients who have received a periodontal
evaluation by a dentist or dental hygienist. (Sec. 1)
4. Allows OPAs to practice only on periodontally healthy patients or patients with localized
mild gingivitis. (Sec. 1)
5. Forbids an OPA from using any air polishing technology, device or practice on patients
who:
a) have been treated for periodontal disease;
b) have generalized recession;
c) are medically compromised; or
d) are under sedation. (Sec. 1)
6. Instructs an OPA providing coronal calculus removal services to:
a) inform each patient and document in the patient's clinical record that the patient's
care was not provided by a licensed dental provider; and
b) prominently post the OPA's certification at the location where the service is
performed. (Sec. 1)
7. Specifies that an OPA may practice only under the direct supervision of a dentist or dental
hygienist. (Sec. 1)
8. Limits a dentist to supervising no more than three OPAs at any time. (Sec. 1)
9. Limits a dental hygienist to supervising no more than one OPA at any time. (Sec. 1)
10. Classifies the act of a dentist or dental hygienist who allows an OPA to perform coronal
calculus removal services outside statutory authority as unprofessional conduct. (Sec. 1)
11. Requires the Board, in coordination with a statewide association representing dentists in
Arizona, to collect data regarding the:
a) number of OPAs who are practicing in Arizona;
b) location of each OPA's practice; and
c) number of complaints filed against dentists pertaining to OPAs. (Sec. 2)
12. Requires the Board to report the OPA data to the Governor, the President of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1, 2029. (Sec. 2)
13. Requires the Board to provide a copy of the OPA report to the Secretary of State. (Sec. 2)
14. Repeals the OPA data reporting requirement on July 1, 2029. (Sec. 2) SB 1124
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15. Defines qualifying institution as an institution of higher education, including a
community college, that provides a dental or dental hygiene program accredited by the
Commission on Dental Accreditation or its successor. (Sec. 1)