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The Bell BriefFrom Dr. Jennifer Bell, DDS
HIGHRegulatoryTier 1

The Fight Over Expanded Practice for Dental Assistants Moves to Nevada

SourceDecisions in DentistryTier 1Clinical & Visual

By Kristen Pratt Machado

Originally at decisionsindentistry.com

Summary & scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol (Drill-Down Score) — not the original publisher.

Why it matters for dental

Nevada’s upcoming decision on allowing dental assistants to perform preventive services as ADA-defined “oral preventive assistants” could reshape practice staffing models, revenue, and compliance risk for every Nevada practice owner and DSO that relies on hygienists for prophylaxis revenue.

Key points

  • The Nevada Dental Board will consider formalizing the ADA’s “oral preventive assistant” category, letting assistants perform coronal polishing, fluoride, sealants and oral hygiene instruction under dentist supervision.
  • State dental-hygienist associations argue the move lowers the standard of care and are lobbying for self-governance statutes that would remove hygienist oversight from dental boards in future states.
  • If approved, Nevada practices could re-deploy hygienists to higher-value procedures, potentially increasing daily production by 15–20 % while lowering payroll cost per preventive visit.
  • Any practice using assistants for expanded functions must update delegation policies, CE tracking, and informed-consent language to stay within the new scope or risk board citation.

Who should care

OwnerDSOStaff

Read the original on Decisions in Dentistry

Full reporting and any paywall content live on decisionsindentistry.com. We summarize and score; we do not republish.

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