Hawaii

A dental assistant in the state of Hawaii may perform basic supportive dental procedures specified by the state dental practice act under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist.

The supervising dentist must appropriately train or provide training to dental assistants, including but not limited to training in the following:

• proper sterilization and disinfection procedures
• ethics
• proper record keeping and patient confidentiality
• cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

Training must meet the OSHA and the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA/HIOSH) bloodborne pathogen standards and CDC and ADA prevention guidelines and recommendations, and must be provided by a Hawaii Board of Dentistry-approved continuing education sponsoring organization. Approved sponsoring organizations include but are not limited to providers approved by the American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP) and the Academy of General Dentistry Program Approval for Continuing Education (AGD PACE).

A dental assistant may perform specified tasks under the general supervision of a licensed dentist or a licensed dental hygienist who is under the supervision of a licensed dentist to provide auxiliary support dental services in a public health setting (see Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 447-3 for definition of “public health setting”).