I would like to voice my concerns and opposition to the use of dental assistants to treat patients that require scaling.  As a clinician of many years and a current dental hygiene educator I know that treating a patient with disease goes much further than simply the mechanical removal of calculus. 

Subgingival scaling is an invasive procedure that requires a solid educational background not only in insturmentation, but anatomy, microbiology, radiology, pharmacology and courses that focus exclusively on the dental disease process.  With the evidence provided by research that indicates connections between the health of the mouth and systemic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, it would truly be a disservice to assign the care of any patient to a person who is only superficially trained.   

To remove deposits without being able to recognize the health consequences (risks or benefits)  involved with the procedure of scaling a patients teeth would be substandard care at the least, an endangerment to the patients health at the worst.  A dental assistant simply does not have the educational background to perform scaling.  Registered Dental Hygienists are throughly trained in the profession for a minimum of two years, required to pass a national board exam and state licensure exams before treating patients within the scope of each state's practice laws.  

There are other options available to improve access to quality oral health care for the citizens of Virginia.  Allowing dental assistants to treat diseased patients  would be a misguided and inappropriate approach to providing patient care.