Dental Assistants are extremely unqualified and have zero professional education, most of them attend a few month certification course (on completely unrelated subjects), while Registered Dental Hygienists spend at the least 2 years in a clinic physically learning our very diffult and niche skill set. Hygiene school was one of the hardest things I have ever accomplished, and to allow these unqualified personnel to provide substandard care is malpractice. Also, are patients informed that they are getting substandard care from an unqualified person? This is all just so dentists can profit more and cut out hygienists when we are doing just as much patient care as they are, insurance just hasn't increased our reimbursement rates since the 70s. This is a slap in the face not only to patients getting poor care but also to hygineists everywhere. There is not a shortage, there is lack of pay, benefits, and respect from dentists. Instead of allowing assistants to scale you should focus your time on allowing hygienists to be in control of themselves and not under control of dentists who just want to push us out to make more money, even though they are making more and more profits than ever. Hygienists are skilled and trained in pharmocology, radiology, head and neck anatomy, infection control, oral pathology, codes and ethics, periodontal disease diagnosis, treatment, and maintenance, and the list goes on. Not only that we have to pass state and national boards to ensure we give patients the highest stanard of care, and here you are giving patients the lowest standard of care with the least qualified people in the entire industry.