In 1985 I began dental assisting and loved it. I soon became a CDA and did every job the law would allow. I wanted more so, I, after much hard work became an RDH in 1996 and then received my BSDH in 2007. To further my education I am now enrolled in a masters program at Va Tech- this dental employee is well trained and well educated. Dental hygiene is so much more than supragingival scaling. These "Perio 1" or Class 1's that don't need a hygienist is a joke. This is the perfect time to catch disease before it progresses through education. Will your DA know how to explain the role of periodontal inflammation and systemic diseases? Will she be able to handle the science involved at all? One of the best things I have learned is true understanding of what I am teaching...not just being a parrot for the dentist.

Where is this shortage? I too see hygienist working part time because there are no full time jobs. The market is saturated in many cases. The board of dentistry should not be fooled into thinking this is about access to care. We hygienists have been trying to get into nursing homes and other facilities for years. We have been trying to offer services for FREE and cannot get in due to the "rules" and you want to allow DA to scale??? Let's be real here....this is about the bottom dollar....money. Simply about the money. We can start a full blown campaign involving the public as a whole if needed. I don't feel this will be needed because our board of dentistry is there to protect the best interest of the public and would not be interested in a slew of lawsuits from supervised neglect.

Say NO quick!