I respectfully ask the Virginia Board of Dentistry to establish a full regulatory process to protect patient health and safety as Virginia implements the new law allowing dental assistants to perform supragingival scaling.

This is simply not “cleaning” teeth. Oral healthcare involves disease prevention, disease recognition, disease management, and treatment. Virginia already has a significant problem with undiagnosed and untreated periodontal disease, including among patients receiving care from licensed dental professionals.

Who will be responsible for periodontal assessments when the dentist and OPA are the only providers treating a patient? I do not see a dentist performing periodontal probing on these patients when they are already completing the periodic examination and currently rely on the dental hygienist to complete this critical assessment. Removing the dental hygienist creates an increased risk that periodontal disease and other oral conditions will go undetected.

Expanding clinical responsibilities to dental assistants without establishing clear regulatory standards, competency requirements, and ongoing oversight will create further inconsistency and harm in patient care.

This is not about protecting a profession or opposing access to care. This is about patient safety and health.