When working under general supervision, can dental hygienists perform comprehensive examinations or prepare treatment plans?

• A. Yes
• B. No
• C. Only with dentist approval
• D. Only for certain patients

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is about who has the authority to diagnose and plan treatment. Comprehensive examinations and treatment planning are tasks that require the dentist’s professional judgment. Even when working under general supervision—where the dentist isn’t physically in the office—the dentist must have previously diagnosed the condition and authorized the procedures. A dental hygienist, under that arrangement, carries out preventive and supporting tasks and implements parts of a plan that the dentist has already created, but they do not perform the initial comprehensive exam or draft the treatment plan themselves. So, under general supervision, these activities aren’t within the hygienist’s scope of practice.