The Missouri Dental Hygienists' Association (MDHA) and a licensed dental hygienist have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a proposed Missouri Dental Board rule that would allow expanded function dental assistants (EFDAs) to perform supragingival scaling and comprehensive periodontal charting, according to an article published on Texas Dentists for Medicaid Reform.
The petition, filed September 29 in Cole County Circuit Court, asks the court to declare the rule unlawful and bar the board from implementing it. Missouri state law currently limits those procedures to licensed dentists and dental hygienists, according to the MDHA.
The rule, published September 15, would add a new periodontal category of expanded functions for assistants holding a periodontal permit. It follows a state pilot in which 15 assistants treated 1,626 patients under direct supervision. Public comments are due October 15, and the rule could take effect as early as January 2027.
Similar oral preventive assistant roles exist in Arizona, Kansas, and Illinois, a trend that has raised tensions between hygienists and assistants.
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