I am a dental patient who could, in theory, be directly effected by this change in regulation. Please allow the professionals who have been extensively trained in dental hygiene and scaling to continue to provide excellent care to their patients.  I will not permit a dental assistant to scale my teeth. 

Instead, why not focus on strategies to increase access to dental care by trained professionals?Dentists- support your Dental Assistants by helping them with tuition to Dental Hygiene School! Volunteer for free clinics! Support your local Dental Hygiene program!

Lowering standards to achieve goals is both disappointing and dangerous.