Dear Board Members,

As evidenced by the number of entries regarding this issue of Dental Assistants having expanded duties to include scaling of calulus for any purposes, this is quite a hot issue.  It potentially encroaches on so many peoples' turfs that it really has set quite a whirlwind in motion.  It has also created a litle bit of angst for me as well as a Registered Dental Hygienist. 

I have practiced for 30 years now, and have been in dentistry for 35 years. I have seen a lot of things in my 35 years,  some of which I really wish I had not seen in practice. I have witnessed situations causing harm that were created by both dentists and hygienists. I have also seen benefits from both.  With this said, I ponder how anyone could expect an individual with even less training and experience to do an effective job in such a challenging situation.

Recently I changed jobs due to a pending retirement from a previous employer, and I had a lot of trepidation about doing so.  Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to find a highly respected dentist who both valued and appreciated the talents that an RDH brought to the table.  In fact, he refused to even consider hiring an RDH who was jusy out of school.  Having been a professor in the past himself at MVC, he recognised the value of experience and honed skills.  So if he had hesitations about a newly graduated hygienist in terms of experience in the real world, what could be the concerns for someone with even less training and education? 

What would be the ramifications of ineffective skill level, insuffucient knowledge to recognise other bigger issues, and possible over abuse of percieved value to go beyond the limits of the law and do an even "better" job than called for?

I trained in the military dental setting for my dental assistant background, and chose to go an accredited hygiene school for my formal training after what I witnessed in the military.  I personally do not want a military trained technician working on me.    If the public understood the difference, they would not wish to have one either.   Perception is the enemy here.

In view of the shortage of Registered Dental Hygienists, I am in agreement that more schools are the answer, not lowering the standard of care.  With the increasing medical research showing that so many other major medicals problems have links back to gingival conditions, lets not go backward in time to a lower level of service and care.  The public needs not only our "scraping" skills, but also the benefit of our greater base of knowledge and training for their continued safety and prevention, particularly in view of this newer research.  My eyes have already witnessed enough "supervised neglect."  Let's not add to it with our own careless haste now.

Are we really here to protect the public for their own future health and safety, or are we here just to make it easier for someone who wants to resolving a staffing issue? 

Sincerely,  Diane Moxley, RDH