I am firmly opposed to the notion that dental assistants should be allowed to scale patients' teeth. I have worked full time as a hygienist for 24 years, but only after completing rigorous training and maintaining my education with extensive continuing education. My license is important to me: it stands as proof of my training, and confirms my commitment to my profession. My patients are important to me too, and I would hate to think that their treatment would be compromised by allowing a dental assistant with only a few hours of training to do a job that has the potential to instantly exceed the assistant's training and capability. The limit of 3 mm seems completely arbitrary. Does anyone honestly believe that an assistant will fall into a 6 mm pocket and stop treatment of a patient in deference to an RDH or DDS? This allowance would encourage assistants to break the law and compromise patients' health by placing them in the position to make judgment calls based on their own perceptions of their abillity. No other licensed profession in the Commonwealth makes such allowances. If an assistant wants to scale teeth, she should go to hygiene school.

Claudette H. Selkirk, RDH