I strongly disagree with the idea that Dental assistants should be able to scale subgingivally. As those of you who have been through dental school or dental hygiene school you should know that we as dental professionals work hard for our titles in this profession. Some say that we are wasting our time on patients with good periodontal status, but I believe that if that patient has good periodontal status then as a dental hygienest you have been doing your job! It is up to you as a dental hygienest not only to complete debridement but also to inform and educate the patient on how to improve their oral conditions due to each patients circumstances. There are many things that need to be learned in order to responsibly manage a patients care, not just how to use a scaler. If the dentist wants his dental assistant to be able to scale subgingivally then he should send them to dental hygiene school where they can properly be taught how to perform that task. It would definately lower the standard of care if you were to allow dental assistants to start scaling.