I strongly oppose any measures to allow scaling by a dental assistant or a DA II.  As many others have stated, this is a bad idea on so many levels. I can only presume that this is in response to a shortage of qualified hygienists in VA. I am a R.D.H. with an active license in the northeast region, who has 8+ years of work experience.  However, I took about 6 years “off” to start my family. Simply because I haven’t worked 24 of the past 48 months I cannot get an active VA license without the trouble of a clinical exam, despite taking a certified and rigorous 5 day refresher course that many other states accept as a substitute for the clinical exam requirement. This law supposes that a dental assistant is more qualified than I am, which just can not be the case. If VA is experiencing such a serious shortage of hygienists I suggest a liberal waiver policy to attract qualified hygienists from other states. If this law is passed, it will place VA on par with Alabama in terms of low dental hygiene certification standards and quality of care.