I strongly oppose legislation that would allow dental assistants with limited formal education and training to perform supragingival scaling.

Scaling is not simply the removal of visible calculus. It requires an understanding of periodontal disease, anatomy, instrumentation, assessment, and when treatment should stop and be referred to a specialist. Removing deposits above the gumline while leaving disease-causing bacteria and calculus below the gumline can create the appearance of health without adequately addressing the disease process.

I understand the workforce challenges facing dentistry. I see them and hear about them from dental teams across Virginia and around the country. But lowering the level of education required to provide patient care is not the solution to a workforce shortage.

Virginia patients deserve care delivered by appropriately educated, trained, and accountable healthcare professionals. Rather than creating a lesser-trained workforce to fill vacancies, we should focus on solutions that recruit, educate, retain, and support licensed dental hygienists.

Please oppose legislation that expands scaling duties to dental assistants without the formal education, clinical training, competency assessment, and oversight necessary to protect patients.