Restricted Anesthesia Certification for Dental Hygienists

To be certified in New York State you must:

• be a New York State licensed dental hygienist currently registered to practice or applying concurrently for licensure
• meet additional education and training requirements

You must file an application for certification and any other forms indicated. Submit all forms, along with the appropriate fee, to the Office of the Professions of the New York State Education Department. It is your responsibility to follow up with anyone you have asked to send us material.

The specific requirements for certification are contained in Title 8, Article 133, Section 6605-6 of New York's Education Law and Part 61 of the Commissioner's Regulations.

The fee for a dental hygiene restricted local infiltration anesthesia/nitrous oxide analgesia certificate is $25.

Fees are subject to change. The fee due is the one in law when your application is received (unless fees are increased retroactively). You will be billed for the difference if fees have been increased.

• Do not send cash.
• If you apply for licensure electronically using the online Application for Licensure, you will be required to pay by credit card.
• Other payments must be made by personal check or money order payable to the New York State Education Department. Your cancelled check is your receipt.
• Mail any required forms and fees to the indicated address on the form.

Note: Payment submitted from outside the United States should be made by check or draft on a United States bank and in United States currency; payments submitted in any other form will not be accepted and will be returned.

Individuals who withdraw their certification application may be entitled to a partial refund.

• For the procedure to withdraw your application, contact the Dental Hygiene Unit at opunit3@nysed.gov or by calling (518) 474-3817 ext. 270 or by fax at: (518) 402-5354.
• The State Education Department is not responsible for any fees paid to an outside testing or credentials verification agency.

If you withdraw your application, obtain a refund, and then decide to seek New York State certification at a later date, you will be considered a new applicant, and you will be required to pay the certification and registration fees and meet the certification requirements in place at the time you reapply.

To meet the education requirements for certification, you must have completed A or B below:

1. An educational program provided by a New York State dental or dental hygiene school that is registered by the New York State Education Department and includes 30 hours of didactic coursework and 15 hours of clinical training.
   
   OR
    
2. Equivalent educational preparation acceptable to the New York State Education Department, offered by an institution with programs leading to licensure in dentistry and/or dental hygiene that are accredited by an acceptable accrediting body. The education must include the required program content listed below:
    
   • Didactic component (30 hours)
      
     • Relevant New York State Education Law and Commissioner's Regulations
     • Medical history and evaluation procedures
     • Review of pediatric and adult respiratory and circulatory physiology and related anatomy
     • Stages of drug-induced central nervous system depression through levels of anxiolysis, conscious sedation, deep sedation and general anesthesia
     • Definitions and descriptions of physiological and psychological aspects of anxiety and pain
     • Pharmacology of agents used in inhalation sedation, local anesthesia, and vasoconstrictors, including drug interactions and incompatibilities
     • Indications and contraindications for use of inhalation sedation and local anesthesia
     • Recommended dosages of local anesthesia and nitrous oxide analgesia
     • Patient monitoring using observation, with particular attention to vital signs and reflexes related to consciousness
     • Selection and preparation of the armamentaria and record keeping administering various local anesthetic agents and nitrous oxide analgesia
     • Recognition and management of complications and management of reactions to local anesthetic agents and nitrous oxide analgesia
     • Proper infection control techniques with regard to local anesthetic and nitrous oxide analgesia and proper disposal of sharps,
     • Description and use of inhalation sedation equipment
     • Introduction to potential health hazards of trace anesthetics and proposed techniques for limiting occupational exposure such as appropriate scavenging systems
     • Abuse potential and hallucinatory effects of nitrous oxide analgesia
     • Post-operative care of the patient and instruction to the patient and
     • A course in basic life support (BLS), or its equivalent as determined by the department
   • Clinical and laboratory experience component (15 hours)
      
     • Selection and preparation of the armamentaria for administering various local anesthetic agents and nitrous oxide analgesia including demonstrations regarding scavenging systems
     • Demonstration of proper infection control techniques with regard to local anesthetics agents and nitrous oxide analgesia and proper disposal of sharps
     • Demonstration of proper evaluation of the patient's health status, taking the patient's vital signs and monitoring the patient's physical status while under the effects of local anesthesia and/or nitrous oxide analgesia
     • Administration of local anesthetic in conjunction with inhalation sedation techniques
     • A clinical experience demonstrating the successful use of local infiltration anesthesia in no fewer than 15 instances involving the treatment of a patient and that no individual patient was treated more than three times; and a clinical experience, demonstrating the successful use of nitrous oxide analgesia in no fewer than 15 instances involving the treatment of a patient, of which at least five instances were induced by the candidate and the remaining instances were observed by the candidate and no individual patient was treated more than two times

Local Infiltration Anesthesia and Nitrous Oxide Analgesia Programs registered by the New York State Education Department as certification qualifying are available through the Education Department's Inventory of Registered Programs Web site www.nysed.gov/heds/IRPSL1.html.