Development of a New Scope of Practice Index for Dental Hygienists

As part of its Year 1 research projects, staff at OHWRC conducted an extensive review of state legislation and regulation governing registered dental hygienists in order to describe the current regulatory environment and quantify it using the 2001 dental hygiene professional practice index (DHPPI). However, much has changed for the dental hygiene profession in the decade since the DHPPI was constructed and the utility of the 2001 DHPPI for analysis had diminished. In 2016, OHWRC updated and modified the DHPPI scale by adding new variables to better quantify current practice for dental hygienists and allow comparisons of change over time for dental hygiene practice in each state.