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Mailing Address
Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council
56 Wellesley St W.,
12th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 2S3

Telephone and Facsimile
Toll-Free: 1-888-377-7746
Telephone: 416-326-1550.
Fax: 416-326-1549


Click here for overview of current ministerial referrals

Regulation of Dental Assistants under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA)


 

The Minister's Question

The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Hon. Deb Matthews, has asked HPRAC to "advise whether the practice of Dental Assistants ought to be regulated under the RHPA and if so, what would be the appropriate scope of practice, controlled acts and titles authorized to the profession". The Minister has also asked that the Council "take into account the activities these practitioners undertake with respect to x-rays and other forms of energy and the circumstances in which these are being done". The Minister has stated that she requires HPRAC's advice on the issue of regulating Dental Assistants under the RHPA by December 31, 2013. 


HPRAC's Approach

When a referral is received from the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, HPRAC determines relevant public interest concerns and questions. HPRAC attempts to understand all perspectives on an issue including those of key health care practitioners, other affected health care professionals, clients and patients, advocates and regulators.  Each issue proceeds through a multi-stage process where information and responses are requested from and shared with stakeholders. HPRAC will conduct literature, jurisdictional and jurisprudence reviews, and engage in key informant interviews.  Its analysis of the issues will lead to a determination of additional information required, and the appropriate process to be used.

HPRAC also wishes to remind interested parties that the purpose of regulation under the RHPA is to protect the public. The onus is on the applicant to provide sufficient evidence to HPRAC so the Advisory Council can effectively assess the application against the criteria for regulation of a new profession under the RHPA. For further details about the HPRAC criteria and the process for regulating a new health profession under the RHPA, please click here.

 

Timelines

The following table includes the currently anticipated timeline for this referral:

Activity

Timeline

Status

Preliminary Research and Analysis by HPRAC

March 2011 - July 2011

Complete

Completion of Proposal by Applicant

August 2011 - November 2011

Complete

Stakeholder Consultations

December 2011 - February 2012

In progress

Data Analysis/Validation, Recommendation Development & Submission of Report to the Minister

March 2012 - August 2012

Pending

 

Please note that these are tentative timelines and may be changed without prior notice.

 

Application to Regulate Dental Assistants under the RHPA

On August 03, 2011 HPRAC invited the Ontario Dental Assistants Association (ODAA) to submit a proposal to regulate Dental Assistants under the RHPA. HPRAC provided ODAA with an application package consisting of:

 

HPRAC Invites Comments on Proposal to Regulate Dental Assistants under the RHPA

A proposal has been submitted to HPRAC by the Ontario Dental Assistants Association (ODAA) seeking regulation of Dental Assistants under the RHPA. You may find it helpful to read the ODAA application, which is available here.

ODAA submission for the regulation of Dental Assistants under the RHPA

Many organizations and individuals have extensive experience and interest in dental care, public interest, and health professions regulation. HPRAC is keen to ensure that this experience and interest are fully reflected in our recommendation-making process. Therefore, HPRAC invites comments on the proposal submitted by ODAA to regulate Dental Assistants under the RHPA.

The consultation period is from  December 13, 2011 to February 24, 2012.

 

How to Submit Your Feedback

There are two (2) ways to provide your feedback to HPRAC. To be considered by HPRAC, information or comments from organizations and individuals must be submitted through one of the mechanisms outlined below.

 Option 1: Online Feedback

You can provide your feedback online via the HPRAC web consultation portal. This is an easy to use web-based form that can help you provide your feedback very conveniently. We strongly encourage you to respond online. To respond online, please click here.

The final date for responses is Friday February 24, 2012, but earlier expressions of views would be greatly appreciated.

 OR

 Option 2: Feedback Form

You can complete the feedback form. To access this form, click here.

This form is in fillable Portable Document Format (PDF). This means you can fill out the questionnaire on-line by typing your answers directly into the online form. To do so your computer must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you must first download the Adobe Acrobat software. You can do so by visiting http://get.adobe.com/reader/. Once completed, please make sure to save your input by clicking on File and then selecting Save As.

Once completed, you can send your feedback form by:

Email: HPRACSubmissions@ontario.ca
Subject: Feedback on Proposal to Regulate Dental Assistants

 Mail:

Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council
56 Wellesley St. West, 12th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S3
Attention: Feedback on Proposal to Regulate Dental Assistants

 OR

Fax: 416-326-1549
Subject: Feedback on Proposal to Regulate Dental Assistants


The final date for responses is Friday February 24, 2012, but earlier expressions of views would be greatly appreciated.

 

Stakeholder Feedback Received by HPRAC

To ensure transparency, the stakeholder comments HPRAC receives are posted according to access to information guidelines (for guidelines, visit http://www.hprac.org/en/privacy.asp). HPRAC has received feedback on the regulation of Dental Assistants under the RHPA from the following organizations and individuals:

Submissions Received (Online and Feedback Forms)

 

 

Note: Submissions received by HPRAC will be posted on every Monday from December 19, 2011 to February 27. 2012

If you wish to comment on any of these submissions, please send them to HPRACSubmissions@ontario.ca. The deadline for submissions is Friday March 9th, 2012.

  

Next Steps
Upon conclusion of the consultation period, HPRAC will carefully consider all evidence gathered to develop recommendations. Your feedback helps HPRAC assess the proposal and determine the issues we should consider throughout the review process, and informs recommendation development.

HPRAC will submit its recommendations on the regulation of Dental Assistants under the RHPA in a report to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care for consideration. All HPRAC reports to the Minister remain confidential until released by the Minister. Please note that, as per the RHPA, HPRAC recommendations are advisory only. The minister is not bound to accept HPRAC's advice.  The release of an HPRAC report and any follow-up action are at the discretion of the Minister. Should the Minister choose to accept HPRAC's advice, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is responsible for implementation of HPRAC recommendations.

HPRAC expects to submit its recommendation on the regulation of Dental Assistants under the RHPA to the Minister by August 31, 2012. Please note that this timeline is tentative and can change without prior notice.

Watch this site for updates and announcements. You may also get latest updates and announcements by following HPRAC on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/HPRACOntario.