I am very opposed to dental assistants performing scaling procedures. This would minimize the role of hygienists, as well as take time away from assistants' regular duties. Assistants work very hard. They also have to have a large knowledge base of dental procedures, and materials. Let them flourish where they are.

I also worry about the proposed regulated "training" they will recieve, as many are only trained on the job as it is. I've worked in many offices where the assistants--probably unaware of proper asepsis--do not wear appropriate protective clothing, including masks and eyewear. And I know I'm not alone when I say that most hygienists wouldn't get their teeth cleaned by a dentist, as they are only briefly trained in the procedures of hygienists. Meaning no disrespect, but an assistant trained to scale by a dentist, would be an ineffective member of a preventative dental program.

I would love for more individuals to have access to care--even if it meant a decrease in my pay. I currently work and live in an area that is so saturated with dentists, and where there is also a high number of uninsured, that dentists are seemingly fighting for patients. The result is that the dentists are providing hygiene care rather than hiring hygients in order to fill their schedules and save money. That also mean less work for me, and realistically a lower standard of care for their hygiene patients.  I don't want to be out of a job--lost to an assistant who can be paid less. But I also don't want the standard of care, that I know I as a qualified hygienist can give , to go down.