Council recommends moving orthodontic instruction out of 'chairside' duties in DA/RDA cleanup bill
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Summary
The Dental Assistant Council voted Feb. 5 to recommend a working-group draft that clarifies scope and supervision for dental assistants and to relocate a removable orthodontic‑appliance instruction duty from a chairside requirement to a direct‑supervision duty; the recommendation will go to the board for submission to the Legislature.
The Dental Assistant Council of the Dental Board of California voted Feb. 5 to recommend changes that clarify allowable duties and supervision levels for dental assistants and registered dental assistants and to move one orthodontic duty out of the board’s proposed "chairside" requirement.
The council’s working group presented a draft legislative proposal that consolidates definitions and allowable duties into statute and aligns terms with the Dental Hygiene Board. After discussion, council members focused on a single sentence in the draft that would require the dentist to be chairside when an assistant "examines and seats removable orthodontic appliances and delivers care instructions to the patient." Several members said that requiring the dentist to remain physically at that patient’s chair for routine instruction is impractical.
"The dentist does not have to be chairside to do that," said Doctor Lauren, a council member who urged removing the chairside requirement for that duty. Council member Epps Robbins moved to strike the sentence from the chairside section and unstrike it under the direct‑supervision section so the duty would remain allowable but subject to a lower supervision threshold. Miyazaki seconded the motion. After no public comment, the council approved the revision by roll‑call vote.
Working‑group members and staff told the council the draft mostly relocates existing duties into clearer statutory language rather than adding new responsibilities, and they said stakeholders were consulted during drafting. Tina Valery, chief of licensing and program compliance for dental assisting, explained that some language mirrors existing regulation and that the reorganization is intended to make supervision levels easier to find.
The council’s action is a recommendation to the full Dental Board of California; if the board approves it, staff said they intend to pursue the statutory changes through a board‑sponsored legislative vehicle or during the board’s sunset review process. The motion passed on a unanimous roll‑call vote.
