A professional who performs dental prophylaxis. Responsibilities include:

• Cleans calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
• Feels lymph nodes under patient's chin to detect swelling or tenderness that could indicate presence of oral cancer.
• Feels and visually examines gums for sores and signs of disease.
• Examines gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
• Applies fluorides and other cavity preventing agents to arrest dental decay.
• Charts conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.
• Exposes and develops x-ray film.
• Makes impressions for study casts.
• May remove sutures and dressings.
• May administer local anesthetic agents.
• May place and remove rubber dams, matrices, and temporary restorations.
• May place, carve, and finish amalgam restorations.
• May remove excess cement from coronal surfaces of teeth.
• May provide clinical services and health education to improve and maintain oral health of school children.
• May conduct dental health clinics for community groups to augment services of dentist.