West Virginia Code
Article 4. West Virginia Dental Practice Act
§30-4-3. Definitions

As used in §30-4-1 et seq., §30-4A-1 et seq., and §30-4B-1 et seq. of this code, the following words and terms have the following meanings:
"AAOMS" means the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons;
"AAPD" means the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry;
"ACLS" means advanced cardiac life support;
"ADA" means the American Dental Association;
"AMA" means the American Medical Association;
"ASA" means American Society of Anesthesiologists;
"Anxiolysis/minimal sedation" means removing, eliminating, or decreasing anxiety by the use of a single anxiety or analgesia medication that is administered in an amount consistent with the manufacturers current recommended dosage for the unsupervised treatment of anxiety, insomnia, or pain, in conjunction with nitrous oxide and oxygen. This does not include multiple dosing or exceeding current normal dosage limits set by the manufacturer for unsupervised use by the patient at home for the treatment of anxiety;
"Approved dental hygiene program" means a program that is approved by the board and is accredited or its educational standards are deemed by the board to be substantially equivalent to those required by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association;
"Approved dental school, college, or dental department of a university" means a dental school, college, or dental department of a university that is approved by the board and is accredited or its educational standards are deemed by the board to be substantially equivalent to those required by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association;
"Authorize" means that the dentist is giving permission or approval to dental auxiliary personnel to perform delegated procedures in accordance with the dentists diagnosis and treatment plan;
"BLS" means basic life support;
"Board" means the West Virginia Board of Dentistry;
"Business entity" means any firm, partnership, association, company, corporation, limited partnership, limited liability company, or other entity;
"Central nervous system anesthesia" means an induced, controlled state of unconsciousness or depressed consciousness produced by a pharmacologic method;
"Certificate of qualification" means a certificate authorizing a dentist to practice a specialty;
"CPR" means cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
"Conscious sedation/moderate sedation" means an induced, controlled state of depressed consciousness, produced through the administration of nitrous oxide and oxygen and/or the administration of other agents whether enteral or parenteral, in which the patient retains the ability to independently and continuously maintain an airway and to respond purposefully to physical stimulation and to verbal command;
"CRNA" means certified registered nurse anesthetist;
"Defibrillator" means a device used to sustain asthmetic heartbeat in an emergency and includes an Automatic Electronic Defibrillator (AED);
"Delegated procedures" means those procedures specified by law or by rule of the board and performed by dental auxiliary personnel under the supervision of a licensed dentist;
"Dentist anesthesiologist" means a dentist who is trained in the practice of anesthesiology and has completed an additional approved anesthesia education course;
"Dental assistant" means a person qualified by education, training or experience who aids or assists a dentist in the delivery of patient care in accordance with delegated procedures as specified by the board by rule or who may perform nonclinical duties in the dental office;
"Dental auxiliary personnel" or "auxiliary" means dental hygienists and dental assistants who assist the dentist in the practice of dentistry;
"Dental hygiene" means the performance of educational, preventive or therapeutic dental services and as further provided in §30-4-11 of this code and legislative rule;
"Dental hygienist" means a person licensed by the board to practice and who provides dental hygiene and other services as specified by the board by rule to patients in the dental office and in a public health setting;
"Dental laboratory" means a business performing dental laboratory services;
"Dental laboratory services" means the fabricating, repairing, or altering of a dental prosthesis;
"Dental laboratory technician" means a person qualified by education, training, or experience who has completed a dental laboratory technology education program and who fabricates, repairs, or alters a dental prosthesis in accordance with a dentists work authorization;
"Dental office" means the place where the licensed dentist and dental auxiliary personnel are practicing dentistry;
"Dental prosthesis" means an artificial appliance fabricated to replace one or more teeth or other oral or peri-oral structure in order to restore or alter function or aesthetics;
"Dental public health" is the science and art of preventing and controlling dental diseases and promoting dental health through organized community efforts. It is that form of dental practice which considers the community to be the patient rather than any individual. It is concerned with the dental health education of the public, with applied dental research, and with the administration of group dental care programs as well as the prevention and control of dental diseases on a community basis;
"Dentist" means an individual licensed by the board to practice dentistry;
"Dentistry" means the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area, and the adjacent and associated structures provided by a dentist;
"Direct supervision" means supervision of dental auxiliary personnel provided by a licensed dentist who is physically present in the dental office or treatment facility when procedures are being performed;
"Endodontics" is the branch of dentistry which is concerned with the morphology, physiology, and pathology of the human dental pulp and periradicular tissues. Its study and practice encompass the basic and clinical sciences including biology of the normal pulp, the etiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and injuries of the pulp and associated periradicular conditions;
"Facility permit" means a permit for a facility where sedation procedures are used that correspond with the level of anesthesia provided;
"General anesthesia" means an induced, controlled state of unconsciousness in which the patient experiences complete loss of protective reflexes, as evidenced by the inability to independently maintain an airway, the inability to respond purposefully to physical stimulation or the inability to respond purposefully to verbal command;
"Deep conscious sedation/general anesthesia" includes partial loss of protective reflexes while the patient retains the ability to independently and continuously maintain an airway;
"General supervision" means a dentist is not required to be in the office or treatment facility when procedures are being performed by the auxiliary dental personnel, but has personally diagnosed the condition to be treated, has personally authorized the procedures, and will evaluate the treatment provided by the dental auxiliary personnel;
"Good moral character" means a lack of history of dishonesty;
"Health care provider BLS/CPR" means health care provider basic life support/cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
"License" means a license to practice dentistry or dental hygiene;
"Licensee" means a person holding a license;
"Mobile dental facility" means any self-contained facility in which dentistry or dental hygiene will be practiced which may be moved, towed, or transported from one location to another;
"Portable dental unit" means any nonfacility in which dental equipment, utilized in the practice of dentistry, is transported to and utilized on a temporary basis in an out-of-office location, including, but not limited to, patients" homes, schools, nursing homes, or other institutions;
"Oral pathology" is the specialty of dentistry and discipline of pathology that deals with the nature, identification, and management of diseases affecting the oral and maxillofacial regions. It is a science that investigates the causes, processes, and effects of these diseases. The practice of oral pathology includes research and diagnosis of diseases using clinical, radiographic, microscopic, biochemical, or other examinations;
"Oral and maxillofacial radiology" is the specialty of dentistry and discipline of radiology concerned with the production and interpretation of images and data produced by all modalities of radiant energy that are used for the diagnosis and management of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral and maxillofacial region;
"Oral and maxillofacial surgery" is the specialty of dentistry which includes the diagnosis, surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, injuries, and defects involving both the functional and aesthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region;
"Orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics" is the dental specialty that includes the diagnosis, prevention, interception, and correction of malocclusion, as well as neuromuscular and skeletal abnormalities of the developing or mature orofacial structures;
"Other dental practitioner" means those persons excluded from the definition of the practice of dentistry under the provisions of §30-4-24(3), §30-4-24(4), and §30-4-24(5) of this code and also those persons who hold teaching permits which have been issued to them under the provisions of §30-4-14 of this code;
"PALS" means pediatric advanced life support;
"Pediatric dentistry" is an age-defined specialty that provides both primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health care needs;
"Pediatric patient" means infants and children;
"Periodontics" is that specialty of dentistry which encompasses the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of the supporting and surrounding tissues of the teeth or their substitutes and the maintenance of the health, function, and aesthetics of these structures and tissues;
"Physician anesthesiologist" means a physician, medical doctor, or doctor of osteopathy who is specialized in the practice of anesthesiology;
"Prosthodontics" is the dental specialty pertaining to the diagnosis, treatment planning, rehabilitation and maintenance of the oral function, comfort, appearance and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth and/or oral and maxillofacial tissues using biocompatible substitutes;
"Public health practice" means treatment or procedures in a public health setting which shall be designated by a rule promulgated by the board to require direct, general, or no supervision of a dental hygienist by a dentist;
"Public health setting" means hospitals, schools, correctional facilities, jails, community clinics, long-term care facilities, nursing homes, home health agencies, group homes, state institutions under the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, public health facilities, homebound settings, accredited dental hygiene education programs, and any other place designated by the board by rule;
"Qualified monitor" means an individual who by virtue of credentialing and/or training is qualified to check closely and document the status of a patient undergoing anesthesia and observe utilized equipment;
"Relative analgesia/minimal sedation" means an induced, controlled state of minimally depressed consciousness, produced solely by the inhalation of a combination of nitrous oxide and oxygen or single oral premedication without the addition of nitrous oxide and oxygen in which the patient retains the ability to independently and continuously maintain an airway and to respond purposefully to physical stimulation and to verbal command;
"Specialty" means the practice of a certain branch of dentistry;
"Subcommittee" means West Virginia Board of Dentistry Subcommittee on Anesthesia; and
"Work authorization" means a written order for dental laboratory services which has been issued by a licensed dentist or other dental practitioner.