Why do I constantly have to defend my profession? I worked VERY hard for my license and the rights that come with it. I've read many of the comments posted on this page and fully agree with those who state that a short course for assistants is not adequate training when it comes to scaling and will compromise the quality of care for the patient. I had 2 yrs of CONSTANT supervision scaling patients in hygiene school - a good number of them being periodontal class I. Why continue to blur the lines between assistants and hygienists? And for those dentists who are complaining about a shortage of hygienists, I urge you to contact the hygiene schools around graduation every year for prospective employees.  I graduated from WCC. I can tell you first hand that the areas surrounding the school are saturated with hygiensts. Finding a job is difficult.  And a question for the dentists out there -how much more revenue will you generate for your offices by paying an assistant half of what a hygienist makes to do the same job and charge the patient the same amount for a cleaning? And to those assistants out there who want to scale teeth - go to hygiene school and double your salaries!