This will result in a decline in quality of care and is not in the best interest of any patient visiting a dental office. The training is not adequate and dental assistants already have an extensive list of responsibilities in their work day. As a dental hygienist myself, I'm aware that sub-gingival scaling is required on all patients at some level. Who will perform this on the patients treated by assistants? Who will perform periodontal charting? Medical history review? Oral cancer screenings? Nutritional counseling? Doctors do not have the time during their exam, so more patients will develop periodontitis, a periodontal disease involving irreversible bone loss, when it could have been prevented. This will be not only detrimental to patient health, but costly long term. It will be more difficult for patients to maintain their oral health and they will need to come in more frequently, which many insurances will not cover. Please consider how detrimental this will be to our patients, and navigate the provider shortage in a way that will truly benefit them without taking shortcuts.