As a RDH with 35 years experience and still practicing, I strongly oppose any dental assistant scaling.  They do not have the knowledge of anatomy nor the educational background to perform this procedure.  Most assistants I have encountered over the years do not know what a sulcus is so how could they possibly scale below the gingival margin with any degree of expertise?  If an assistant wants to scale, he or she should spend the years in school and take the board.  We should not be lowerinig standards with regard to patient care.  This is absolutely absurd!!