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House approves measure creating supervised oral preventive assistant role amid debate
Summary
The House passed Senate Bill 1124 on third reading, establishing an oral preventive assistant role that supporters said increases rural access to dental services and opponents said lowers standards; final recorded vote was 38-20 with 2 not voting.
The Arizona House passed Senate Bill 1124 on third reading, a measure that creates a limited new dental practitioner role often described in floor debate as an oral preventive assistant (OPA) and spells out training, certification and supervision requirements.
Representative Patty Contreras explained her opposition during the floor debate, saying she did not support “lowering our standards of dental care” and questioning whether a pilot program should be tried in Arizona. “Our rural residents should never be used as guinea pigs,” she said on the floor, and urged a no vote.
Representative Bliss spoke in favor and disputed characterizations that the bill lowers standards. Bliss said, “We are not lowering our standards. We're allowing another level of practitioner here,” and outlined provisions mentioned in the bill on the House floor: training, certification, and a scope of practice limited to “removal of plaque, calculus and stains using scalers or sonic ultra sonic scaling devices,” performed under the supervision of dentists and hygienists.
The clerk recorded the final tally as 38 ayes, 20 nays, and 2 not voting. The journal notes the bill passed in open session and the clerk was instructed to convey the action to the Senate.
