I am opposed to the idea of assistants scaling type 1 periodontal patients.  As a previous dental assistant myself, I feel that the quality of dental care provided to the patient will be jeopardized.  In the practice that I work in, we often see young patients with moderate gingivitis.  Hand scaling supragingivally alone,will provide no benefits to these patients.  I feel that the dentist themselves need to  think about how they would feel if hygientists had the opportunity to to learn chairside how to perform their duties.  Is that fair or safe to our patients?