11Major dental treatment

11 Major dental treatment

11 Major dental treatment

(1) For the purposes of the definition of major treatment in section 33 (1) of the Act, the following dental treatment is declared to be major treatment:

(a) any treatment involving the administration of a general anaesthetic or simple sedation,

(b) any treatment intended, or likely, to result in the removal of all teeth,

(c) any treatment likely to result in the patient’s ability to chew food being significantly impaired for an indefinite or prolonged period.

(2) In this clause, simple sedation means a technique in which the use of a drug or drugs produces a state of depression of the central nervous system enabling treatment to be carried out, and in which:

(a) verbal contact with the patient is maintained throughout the period of sedation, and

(b) the technique used has a margin of safety wide enough to render unintended loss of consciousness unlikely.