As a practicing hygienist for the past 16 years, I can only see degradation of care if we allow assistants to scale patients.    Who is going to check for sub-gingival or interproximal calculus?   Even after 2 years of hygiene school it still takes seeing many patients to become proficient.  I hardly think an assistant trained in the office could ever reach acceptable standards.  I can foresee many more law suits for undiagnosed periodontal disease.   Most dentists I have worked with will admit they do not like to scale nor are the adequate at it.  Yet they would be the ones training the assistants???

Do we want to become like Alabama?  Will patients be charged less if an assistant scales them?  Will they have to identify themselves as an assistant vs hygienist?   This seems to be a money issue, paying staff less and charging patients more.  

Time for a new career!