An assistant that wants to do dental hygiene duties should go to an appropriate dental hygiene school where she will learn the proper and safe techniques for prophylactic procedures.  It would be misleading for patients to think that they have had proper preventitive care with only surface scaling and polishing provided by an assistant.  Dental Hygienists are trained in many areas to help patients prevent dental disease and that care is what a patients shoud recieve, not just the simple scaling and polishing that an assistant could questionly safely provide.  Please protect the oral health and safety of the dental patients by leaving scaling and preventive care to the dental hygienist.  Thank you.  By Marilyn Duling, a dental hygienist for 51 years and still practicing dental hygiene 3 days a week..