As a recent retiree from The United States Navy I have had the unique opportunity to work as a DA1, DA2, prophy technician and a registered dental hygienist and I do not agree with dental assistants acting in the capacity of a registered dental hygienist. What I learned in my twenty years of dental services is that there is no replacement or shortcut for the education that I received by attending an accredited dental hygiene program. The military school in San Antonio trains both Air Force and Navy members to become DENTAL ASSISTANTS with one week of the three months program dedicated to super gingival scaling and coronal polishing. While in the military I have also trained dental assistants to act as prophy/scaling technicians with emphasis placed on coronal polishing ((two weeks). For clarification, neither the Marine Corp nor the Coast Guard has a dental field. The Air Force has a hygiene program that is located on Maxwell AFB in Montgomery Alabama which in not an accredited. The Navy realized that with a global presence around the world, prophy/scaling technicians could not and did not replace a college educated hygienist. We saw an increase in patients having periodontal concerns that should not have been present since these patients were receiving routine “cleanings” by dental assistants. To help combat this problem, in 1995 the Navy started sending their qualified dental assistants to accredited civilian colleges to become licensed in dental hygiene. Standard of care, patient satisfaction and overall dental health of the Navy community increased once registered hygienists were integrated back into the military environment, So I ask you, wouldn't you prefer to wait a extra couple of months to see an licensed hygienist and received the care that you deserve or would you prefer to see a dental assistant every three, four or six months and risk possible periodontal issue that could have been avoided had you requested to see a licensed professional? Delegating your health to “qualified” dental assistants will be sending the message that we are no longer concerned about the quality of care we provide to our patients but the quantity. Thank you for your time.

Pamela D. Price, RDH