Local Anesthesia Added to NC Dental Hygienists’ Scope of Practice
On July 23, 2021, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed HB 144/SB 146 into law.
On July 23, 2021, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed HB 144/SB 146 into law, enabling the state’s dental hygienists to administer infiltration and block anesthesia to dental patients, in addition to formally allowing the use of teledentistry. The bill had bipartisan support.
North Carolina was one of the few states that precluded local anesthesia administration from dental hygienists’ scope of practice. Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Delaware are now the only states without this addition to their practice acts.
From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. August 2021;19(8):10.
