There is no way that giving the Dental Assistants the job of scaling teeth is going to help or make a visit to the dentist cheaper or better.  No way.  Think about it dental hygienists are educated to recognize all type of problems going on with not only your teeth but your gums not only to fix it but to prevent decay and disease.  Think about it  people would you let anybody walk of the street and cut your hair.  I wouldn't.  Sometimes I just live with the cut until it grows out, but my teeth is a whole lot more important to me and there is no way I'm willing to take a chance with my health.   I think that people who are considering this is all about cheap instead of quality and I feel that in the end people will be paying more for their dental care because things wont be done right the first time and be missed the second time.  So this will result in more visits to the dentist and more work on the dentist because the work was done poorly by the assistant because she was uneducated in the first place.