Request By:
William B. Worthington, D.M.D.
Secretary-Treasurer
Kentucky Board of Dentistry
2106 Bardstown Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General
This is in response to your letter in which you seek an opinion as to whether a dental hygienist, who is a member of the Kentucky Board of Dentistry (the Board), can legally administer a clinical examination to applicants for dental hygienist licenses in Kentucky. Initially, your attention is directed to KRS 313.200 which provides in pertinent part:
(1) When the appointments have been made as provided in this section, the Kentucky board of dentistry shall consist of nine (9) members, each appointed by the governor. . . . One (1) member shall be a dental hygienist licensed to practice dental hygiene in the Commonwealth. . . .
(2)(b) Each dental hygienist member shall have been an actual resident dental hygienist and licensed practicing dental hygienist in this state for not less than five (5) years preceding his appointment to the board. He shall not be in any way connected with or interested in any dental college or dental department of any institution of learning or dental supply business.
KRS 313.260, 313.270 and 313.300(2) provide:
313.260 Board to administer dental hygiene law
The board is hereby vested with authority and charged with the duty of administering the provisions of KRS 313.260 to 313.350.
313.270 Powers and duties of board as to dental hygiene law
(1) The board shall meet as often and at such places as it deems necessary for examination of applicants who desire to practice dental hygiene in this state. The board shall keep a record of the names, addresses and license numbers of all persons legally entitled to practice dental hygiene in this state.
(2) The board may adopt and enforce such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and reasonable to carry out the provisions of KRS 313.260 to 313.350 and shall establish a continuing education program for dental hygienists.
313.300 Applications for examination; fee; issuance of license; annual fee . . .
(2) As soon as the board has determined that an applicant has successfully passed the examination, a license to practice dental hygiene in this state shall be issued by the board to such applicant. The license shall be for one (1) calendar year or for the remaining portion thereof if issued as of a date after January 1. Each license shall be renewed from year to year, except for cause as herein provided.
It is apparent from the above quoted statutes that one of the nine members of the Board must be a licensed dental hygienist. The board has the sole responsibility for administering the dental hygiene law, KRS 313.260 through 313.350, including the exclusive authority to establish, organize, and conduct examinations designed to insure that dental hygienists in Kentucky are able to meet specified standards of competency. Since the Board is empowered, inter alia, to administer examinations for licensure of dental hygienists, any member of the Board may participate in the administration of such examinations. There is no legal reason to exclude the dental hygienist member of the Board from the administration of licensure examinations for dental hygienists.
Despite the absence of any legal objection to such participation by the dental hygienist member, the Board is authorized by KRS 313.270(2), supra to adopt and enforce rules and regulations for the purpose of carrying out its responsibility of administering the dental hygiene law. It is therefore the opinion of this office that the Kentucky Board of Dentistry may, for reasons of policy, promulgate a regulation prohibiting the dental hygienist member of the Kentucky Board of Dentistry from administering clinical examinations for the licensure of dental hygienists.