§ 6608. Definition of practice of registered dental assisting. The practice of registered dental assisting is defined as providing supportive services to a dentist in his or her performance of dental services authorized under this article. Such support shall include providing patient education, taking preliminary medical histories and vital signs to be reviewed by the dentist, placing and removing rubber dams, selecting and prefitting provisional crowns, selecting and prefitting orthodontic bands, removing orthodontic arch wires and ligature ties, placing and removing matrix bands, taking impressions for study casts or diagnostic casts, removing periodontal dressings, and such other dental supportive services authorized by the dentist consistent with regulations promulgated by the commissioner, provided that such functions are performed under the direct personal supervision of a licensed dentist in the course of the performance of dental services. Such services shall not include diagnosing and/or performing surgical procedures, irreversible procedures or procedures that would alter the hard or soft tissue of the oral and maxillofacial area or any other procedures determined by the department. The practice of registered dental assisting may be conducted in the office of any licensed dentist or in any appropriately equipped school or public institution but must be done under the direct personal supervision of a licensed dentist. Direct personal supervision, for purposes of this section, means supervision of dental procedures based on instructions given by a licensed dentist in the course of a procedure who remains in the dental office where the supportive services are being performed, personally diagnoses the condition to be treated, personally authorizes the procedures, and before dismissal of the patient, who remains the responsibility of the licensed dentist, evaluates the services performed by the registered dental assistant. Nothing herein authorizes a registered dental assistant to perform any of the services or functions defined as part of the practice of dental hygiene in accordance with the provisions of subdivision one of section sixty-six hundred six of this article, except those functions authorized pursuant to this section. All dental supportive services provided in this section may be performed by currently registered dental hygienists either under a dentist's supervision, as defined in regulations of the commissioner, or, in the case of a registered dental hygienist working for a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public health law, pursuant to a collaborative arrangement with a licensed dentist in accordance with subdivision one of section sixty-six hundred six of this article. Such collaborative arrangement shall not obviate or supersede any law or regulation which requires identified services to be performed under the personal supervision of a dentist.