CHAPTER 507

AN ACT to define “Dental Hygiene’ and “Dental Hygienist,” to
regulate the practice of dental hygiene and to provide pen-
alties for the violations of the provisions of this act.

[ H 336 ]

Approved April 7, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. Definitions:

(a) “Dental Hygiene,” for the purpose of this Act, means
cleaning and polishing teeth;

(b) “Dental Hygienist” means a person trained in the
practice of and practicing dental hygiene;

(c) “License” means the certificate issued to an applicant
upon completion of requirements for admission to practice den-
tal hygiene in this State;

(d) “Renewal Certificate’ means the annual certificate of
renewal of license to continue the practice of dental hygiene in
this State;

(e) “Board” means the Virginia State Board of Dental
Examiners as continued by § 54-153 of the Code of Virginia.

§ 2. Practice of dental hygiene——The function of the
dental hygienist is to assist the members of the dental profes-
sion in providing oral health care to the public. A dental hygien-
ist who has been duly licensed and registered in this State may,
under the direction of a registered dentist of this State and
subject to such rules as may be adopted by the Board, (a)
remove calcareous deposits and stains from the exposed surfaces
of the teeth beginning at the epithelial attachment, and polish
the teeth, (b) make topical applications of medicinal agents to
the teeth for prophylactic purposes, as directed by the dentist.
The dental hygienist shall under no circumstances attempt to
perform any other operation in the mouth, or treat pathological
involvements of the teeth or of the supporting and adjacent
tissues.

§ 3. Administration.—The Board is hereby vested with
the authority and is charged with the duty of administering the
provisions of this Act.

4. Powers and duties of Board.—The Board shall have
authority, in the administration of this Act, to fix the time of
examinations for the granting of licenses to dental hygienists;
the form of application to be filed; the type of examination to
be given, whether written or oral or a combination of both; and
to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary and
reasonable to carry out the provisions of this Act.

§ 5. Reciprocity with other states——The Board may, at its
discretion, arrange for reciprocity with the authorities of other
states and territories having requirements equal to those estab-
lished by this Act.

§ 6. Limitations on the employment of dental hygienists.
—No dentist shall employ more than one dental hygienist at one
and the same time, nor shall the name of or fact of employment
of the dental hygienist appear in any form of public display or
on the stationery of the dentist. Nothing in this Act shall pre-
vent the State Board of Health or the Boards of Health of
Counties or Cities of Virginia from employing the necessary
number of hygienists in public school dental clinics, but such
public school dental clinics shall be operated under the direct
supervision of a licensed dentist.

§ 7. License.—No person shall practice dental hygiene
within the meaning of this chapter unless licensed to do so.
The holder of a license certificate for the year in which the same
is issued, or of a renewal certificate for the current year, shall
have the right to practice dental hygiene in this State, under
the direct supervision of any duly licensed and registered dentist
of this State.

§ 8. Application and fee.—An application for such license
shall be made to the Board in writing, and shall be accompanied
by the examination fee of twenty dollars.

§ 9. Qualifications of applicant.—The applicant for a li-
cense from the Board to practice dental hygiene must be a per-
son of good moral character, nineteen years of age or over at
the time of making the application, a citizen of any State of the
United States, who has successfully completed a course of train-
ing in a school of dental hygiene approved by the Board.

§ 10. Investigation of applicant for license—Upon re-
ceipt of an application for such license, the Board shall inquire
into the qualifications of the applicant and the accuracy of the
statements appearing in the application, and for such purposes
shall have power to send for witnesses, papers and documents,
and administer oaths.

§ 11. Issuance of certificate to practice.—The Board shall
grant a certificate of ability to practice dental hygiene to all
qualified applicants who undergo a satisfactory examination and
receive at least four affirmative votes. This certificate shall be
signed by the members of the Board and be stamped with a
suitable seal which the Board may adopt.

§ 12. Board to record certificate holders—The Board
shall keep records in which shall be registered the name and
qualifications of every person to whom such a certificate is
granted. Such records shall show the name and address of each
employer of each dental hygienist, and each dental hygienist
shall promptly advise the Secretary of the Board of the name
and address of his employer and all changes therein.

§ 13. Transcript from records as evidence.—Transcrip-
tions from the records provided for in the preceding Section 12,
certified by the officer who has them in keeping, with the seal
of the Board affixed, shall be evidence in any court of this State.

§ 14. Registering license in clerk’s office.—Any person
licensed to practice dental hygiene in this State by the Board, as
hereinbefore provided shall, before beginning practice, and
within ninety days from the date of issue, cause such license to
be registered in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of
such county or counties, or in the office of the Clerk of the Cor-
poration Court of such city or cities, in which such person de-
sires to engage in the practice of dental hygiene, and should
such dental hygienist remove to another county or city he shall
record his certificate in the Clerk’s office of such county or city
before beginning the practice of dental hygiene. Such license
or certificate, so recorded, shall be evidence or authority of the
person therein named to practice dental hygiene in this State,
provided such license or certificate is annually registered with
the Board, as provided for in Section 16 hereof. Such current
certificate shall be displayed at all times in the office where
he is employed.

§ 15. Certificate obtained through fraud.—Any certificate
to practice dental hygiene obtained through fraud of any nature,
or by any false or fraudulent representation of practice shall
be void, and the person found guilty of such fraud shall be re-
fused the right to practice dental hygiene in this State.

§16. Annual registration.—It shall be the duty of the Sec-
retary of the Board to mail to each person whose name appears
upon the register of the Board, on or before January first of
each year, a printed blank form to be filled out by such person,
which form shall be returned to the Secretary properly filled
out, together with the fee of Three Dollars ($3.00), and shall
receive therefor a registration certificate, stamped with the seal
of the Board.

§ 17. Improper issuance of license by commissioner of rev-
enue.—Any commissioner of the revenue who shall issue a li-
cense to any person, who has not complied with the preceding
section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con-
viction thereof, be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor
more than fifty dollars, and no license issued by any commis-
sioner of the revenue in violation of this section shall be valid.
The presentation of a current renewal certificate to the com-
missioner of revenue shall be sufficient evidence of compliance
with the preceding section.

§ 18. Grounds for revocation or suspension, and penalties,
in general.—The Board may revoke or suspend the certificate
and license of any dental hygienist for any one or more of the
causes for which it may revoke or suspend the certificate and
license of any licensed dentist as set forth in Section 54-187 of
the Code of Virginia, in so far as said causes are applicable to
the practice of dental hygiene.

§ 19. Procedure for revocation or suspension of the cer-
tificate and license of a dental hygienist.—the Procedure for
revocation or suspension of the certificate or license of a dental
hygienist shall be the same as that provided in Sections 54-189
to 54-194 of the Code of Virginia, both sections inclusive, for
the revocation or suspension of the certificate and license of a
licensed dentist.

§ 20. Practice of dental hygiene without a certificate.—Any
person practicing dental hygiene in this State without having
passed the examinations and received the certificate as pro-
vided in this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars for the first
offense, and for the second offense not less than five hundred
dollars, or be imprisoned in jail for from three to twelve months,
or both, in the discretion of the court.

§ 21. Failure to furnish name of employer or display cer-
tificate—Every person practicing dental hygiene within this
State who shall wilfully fail to keep the Secretary of the State
Board of Dental Examiners informed of the name and address of
his employer or who shall fail to display his license certificate,
as provided in this Act, or who shall practice otherwise than as
provided in this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-
five dollars or more than one hundred dollars for the first of-
fense, and for the second offense not less than one hundred dol-
lars nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars.
22. Commonwealth’s attorneys to prosecute violations;
1e.—It shall be the duty of the Commonwealth’s attorneys
rosecute every violation of this Act committed in their re-
tive jurisdictions. All prosecutions under this Act shall be
ituted by indictment or information, in the Circuit or Cor-
tion Court of the county or city in which the offense occurs.