On Monday, June 29, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation that provides the authorization of dental laboratory technicians to be onsite for chairside services during dental procedures. The signing of House Bill 713 is the first language of its kind in the US and takes into account that dentists are seeking the dental laboratory technician to be onsite for complex cases such as full mouth reconstructions and training of intraoral scanning systems, etc. Changes are to take effect July 1, 2020.
"This is great news for dental laboratories and dental technicians in Florida," said FDLA President Alexander Wünsche, CDT, of Zahntechnique in Miami, Florida. "As our industry has modernized over the years, keeping up with technology and new industries, the protections for dental laboratories have not always been in place. These changes will allow us to provide the services and training requested by our dental colleagues and as a team continue to provide the highest level of dental care to the patients we serve. We are grateful to both Senator Harrell and Representative Rodriguez for recognizing that our industry needed these updates to best serve and support the dental industry in Florida. We hope that Florida's efforts will provide a blueprint for other state dental practice acts to follow."
