This is the worse thing that could happen! Patients pay good money for the best care, and they won't get it from a dental asst. doing their cleaning. I worked in an office where they allow DA's to do cleanings on pt's under the age of 16. When the hygienist would see these pt's once they were older, these poor kids would have horrible gingivitis, and black calculus subgingivally. This just sets them up for future periodontal disease. Not to mention they look at us like we are crazy because now all of a sudden their cleanings hurt and "we" are making them bleed!

Letting DA's do cleanings takes away from all the hard work that we have done to have the general population believe, and understand that their teeth are connected to the rest of their bodies and that there are links to oral health and over all general health. A cleaning is not just a cleaning! Before you even work on a patient you have to know their medical history. Knowing how to clean/scale does not qualify you to work on someone, there is much more involved than "just a cleaning!" Pt do not want to visit the dentist and feel like they are just part of a factory. What is happening to our standard of care?

If this happens then we should just set up "cleaning salons," like the nail salons you can find on just about every corner! But wait, even they have to be licensed!!!!