I am not a dentist or a hygienist and have no other affiliations with the dental field other than being a patient.  With that said, I am opposed to the idea of a dental assistant having the ability to scale teeth.  These tools require extensive training in controlled environments for them to be used properly and safely for the patient.  I will require any scaling done on my own teeth and the teeth of my family to be done by a certified dental hygienist and nothing else.