Q: Can a hygienist use the laser for scaling and root planing patients when the dentist is not on the premises?
A: The Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board does not define the tools used for treatment within statute and a laser would be considered the tool being used in conjunction with scaling and root planing.
After obtaining additional training and certification, a dental hygienist is allowed to use lasers for their scaling and root planing patients. However, it is not advised that this be done when the dentist is not on the premises.
Under Wisconsin Administrative Code DE 3.02 Practice of dental hygiene defined shows in DE 3.02 (1)(a)(2) that a hygienist may perform, “…deep periodontal scaling, including root planing…while a dentist is present in the dental facility.”
Dentists are encouraged to rely on this portion of the Administrative Code – and they must also abide by Chapter 447.06(2)(c)(1-3) of the Wisconsin Statutes – when allowing their hygienists to treat patients when they (the dentists) are not in the office.
Please note that the WDA Sourcebook PDF and FAQ on WDA.org has been updated to include the correct language regarding hygienists using lasers without the dentist present. Download the PDF here
I ma wondering- aren’t hygienist allowed to have their own independent practices in WI? How are they performing sc/rp there? There is never a dentist on premises?
There is nothing preventing hygienists from having their own independent practice but we must remember that even that cannot be totally independent of a dentist since hygienists cannot diagnose or treatment plan for patients. They will obviously need to have some form of collaboration with a dentist for something like an independent practice to move forward. Same thing would go for the billing since hygienist can only bill Medicaid as a provider – they are not allowed to bill commercial insurance plans (that must be done under a dentists name, credentials, Tax ID, NPI etc). It would be hard to have a independent practice for a hygienist, in my opinion, since things like the laser use with SRP must be done while a dentist is on the premises. How the statutes and practice settings are worded now would require some form of collaboration of sorts for a hygienist to truly do this.