Under what condition must a dental hygienist notify the Louisiana Board about their employment?

• A. Never
• B. they intend to administer nitrous oxide or local anesthesia
• C. they intend to perform fluoride varnish
• D. They work more than 20 hours a week

Answer: (B)

In Louisiana, you only need to notify the licensing board about your employment when your duties would involve procedures that require additional authorization beyond standard hygiene practice. Administering nitrous oxide or local anesthesia falls into that category because it expands the hygienist’s scope and requires specific training, certification, and supervision. The board needs to have a record of who is authorized to perform these modalities to ensure patient safety and proper scope compliance.

Fluoride varnish is a routine hygienist procedure and does not require extra credentials or board notification. How many hours you work also doesn’t change your required scope or trigger a notification. So the condition that triggers notifying the board is when nitrous oxide or local anesthesia will be administered.