Iowa Code Title IV. Public Health [Chs. 123-158] § 153.33A. Dental hygiene committee

1. A three-member dental hygiene committee of the board is created, consisting of the two dental hygienist members of the board and one dentist member of the board. The dentist member of the committee must have supervised and worked in collaboration with a dental hygienist for a period of at least three years immediately preceding election to the committee. The dentist member shall be elected to the committee annually by a majority vote of board members.

2. The committee shall have the authority to adopt recommendations regarding the practice, discipline, education, examination, and licensure of dental hygienists, subject to subsection 3, and shall carry out duties as assigned by the board. The committee shall have no regulatory or disciplinary authority with regard to dentists, dental assistants, dental lab technicians, or any other auxiliary dental personnel.

3. The board shall ratify recommendations of the committee at the first meeting of the board following adoption of the recommendations by the committee, or at a meeting of the board specifically called for the purpose of board review and ratification of committee recommendations. The board shall decline to ratify committee recommendations only if the board makes a specific finding that a recommendation exceeds the jurisdiction or expands the scope of the committee beyond the authority granted in subsection 2, creates an undue financial impact on the board, or is not supported by the record. The board shall pay the necessary expenses of the committee and of the board in implementing committee recommendations ratified by the board.

4. This section shall not be construed as impacting or changing the scope of practice of the profession of dental hygiene or authorizing the independent practice of dental hygiene.