January 12, 2021
Board Opinion on COVID-19 Testing
Board Opinion on COVID-19 Testing:
At the November 6, 2020 Board of Dentistry meeting, the Board discussed dentists, as healthcare practitioners, performing COVID-19 testing in office. The Board is of the opinion that COVID-19 testing does fall within the scope of practice for a dentist.
O.C.G.A. § 43-11-17(a)(7) states as follows:
"(a) Except as expressly provided in this chapter, any person who performs any of the following procedures, operations, or services shall be regarded as practicing dentistry within the meaning of this chapter:
(7) Undertakes to do or perform any physical evaluation of a patient in his or her office or in a hospital, clinic, or other medical or dental facility prior to, incident to, and appropriate to the performance of any dental services or oral or maxillofacial surgery;"
Practitioners are not required to offer testing, however if testing is made available to patients, then all testing and reporting requirements must be adhered to. If a practitioner is using an FDA approved, CLIA waived, Point-of-Care test, then a CLIA wavier is required. If a practitioner is collecting a sample and sending it out to a licensed laboratory for testing, then a CLIA waiver is not required. Below are links to several CDC webpages that provide more detailed information on COVID-19 testing and the requirements.
UPDATE: A dentist may delegate the sample collection to licensed dental hygienists for COVID-19 tests.
Informational Links:
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/testing.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/preparedlabs/covid-19.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/lab/guidelines-clinical-specimens.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/point-of-care-testing.html