Two controversial bills being proposed in Virginia seek to expand who is legally allowed to perform dental cleanings. They’re aimed at addressing a shortage of dental hygienists and helping people get preventive cleanings before they develop bigger, more expensive dental problems.
But the Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association is blasting the two proposals, saying they’re not safe.
During dental cleanings, hygienists perform a procedure called scaling, using tools to scrape the plaque from patients’ teeth and gums. The goal is to prevent patients from getting gum disease.
Right now in Virginia, licensed dental hygienists are the only ones allowed to scale teeth. They’re required have to do at least two years of college study. But federal employment data shows there’s currently a shortage of dental hygienists in Virginia, with 1/3 of jobs unfilled.
That’s why the Virginia Dental Association is proposing a bill to allow dental assistants to also scale and polish teeth.
Dental assistants are different than hygienists.
The assistants go through a training program that takes 9 to 11 months. Once trained, they perform support tasks, such as sterilizing equipment, taking X-rays and helping dentists during procedures. Sometimes they also answer phones and order supplies.
Here’s what the bills propose:
- Under one of the proposed bills, dental assistants with 1,800 clinical hours could get certified to polish and scale teeth above the gum line. A certified hygienist would still be the one to scale below the gum line.
- The other bill would allow for internationally trained dentists to become licensed dental hygienists, if they choose.
“These two bills are helping patients access preventative dental care that patients deserve and they need,” Dr. Justin Norbo, a dentist in Purcellville, Virginia, said.
Norbo, who is an advocate for the two bills, points out that Missouri did a similar pilot program with more than 1,600 patients and had zero reported safety issues.
“This is not necessarily a novel concept. We do find that scaling is extremely safe,” Norbo said.
However, the Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association is strongly against the two bills.
They say they’re worried the dental assistants won’t have the proper training and education to scale teeth. And they say even though internationally trained dentists are very experienced, dentists and hygienists require different skill sets.
“Let’s just say that they were neurosurgeons. And let’s say there was a shortage of physical therapists. You wouldn’t just say, ‘Oh, we don’t have enough physical therapists, so we’re going to have internationally trained neurosurgeons do the jobs of physical therapists,'” Derik Sven, president of the Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association said.
“Scaling is, we are using sharp, double-bladed instruments,” he said. “We are deeply concerned about this from a safety, ethics, and just scientific standpoint.”
The Virginia Senate still has to vote on the bill on internationally trained dentists.
The bill on dental assistants has already passed both the House and Senate, and will now head to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk for her approval.
If the governor vetoes either bill, the Virginia House and Senate would both need a 2/3 majority vote to override the veto.
News4 reached out to Spanberger’s office to ask her thoughts on the bills, but we have not yet heard back.
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