New South Wales Consolidated Acts

HEALTH PRACTITIONER REGULATION NATIONAL LAW (NSW) - SECT 121A

121A General anaesthesia and simple sedation in dentistry [NSW]

(1) A dentist must not carry out any procedure forming part of the practice of dentistry on a patient to whom a general anaesthetic has been administered unless the general anaesthetic has been administered by a registered medical practitioner who--

(a) holds specialist registration in anaesthesia; or

(b) is accredited for the purposes of administering any general anaesthetic at a public or private hospital at which surgery may lawfully be carried out.

: Maximum penalty--200 penalty units.

(2) A dentist must not administer simple sedation by the intravenous route unless the dentist--

(a) has been endorsed by the Dental Board of Australia to administer sedation; and

(b) is assisted by another person who is either--

(i) a registered nurse who has received training in intensive care or anaesthesia; or

(ii) a dentist, appropriately trained in the observation and monitoring of sedated patients and in resuscitation, whose sole responsibility in assisting is to monitor the level of consciousness and cardio-respiratory function of the patient and to administer resuscitation if necessary.

: Maximum penalty--200 penalty units.

(3) In this section--

"general anaesthetic" means a drug or other substance that, when administered to a patient, will render the patient--

(a) unaware of the patient's surroundings; and

(b) unable to retain reflex control of the airway; and

(c) incapable of understanding and obeying a spoken command.

"simple sedation" means a technique in which the use of a drug produces a state of depression of the central nervous system enabling treatment to be carried out, and in which--

(a) the patient does not lose consciousness; and

(b) the drug and techniques used have a margin of safety wide enough to render unintended loss of consciousness unlikely.

Note--: This section is an additional New South Wales provision.