Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association Position Paper

Please take time to become informed of the current and historical educational requirements and curriculum completion plus clinical proficiencies required prior to becoming eligible to take / pass multiple Board examinations. Public/ consumer health will suffer if educational standards are lowered at all. Educated, Licensed Dental hygienists are trained to do far more than simply scrape teeth.

I strongly oppose this!!!

Keep hygienist career valuable! Don’t dumb down the profession.

Do the right thing. Protect the public and not the financial gains of practice owners!

In my community we have CODA trained hygienists who don’t probe or diagnose periodontal disease let alone scale and root plane. Dumbing down the educational process in the name of access to care is not the answer. On the Peninsula there is not a shortage of those applying to existing hygiene programs, there is a shortage of program spots especially with the closure of PRCC hygiene program. Yes costs and falculty staffing are issues. The VDA should be advocating for more funding from our taxpayer dollars with the General Assembly to fund these programs and attract qualified falculty with industry standard pay. I’ve worked with refugee foreign trained dentists over the years who were dental assistants. Their knowledge and skill sets were way behind ours to the point that not only did they have to attend one of our accredited dental schools for the full 4 years, but they needed to enroll in numerous prerequisite courses first. Why would we think they would be a great source for hygiene, for one, and for two, in addition, most of my dental colleagues don’t or hate to probe, diagnose, or treat periodontal disease?!

I strongly oppose these bills that will endanger the public.

I stand for protecting the public. The agenda items this petition stands in opposition to are short sighted, one must look at the forest and not just a tree.

Why would you be okay being a guinea pig? It takes four years of college plus a lifetime of experience to become a great dental hygienist.

This is dangerous idea. We have specific training and education requirements that prepare us for this role. It would also diminish the care and importance of dental health for our patients

My assistants are phenomenal ASSISTANTS, but they can’t even polish all the plaque off a child’s teeth when I ask them to polish a siblings’ teeth. If they cannot polish teeth adequately, do we TRULY think they can scale teeth? And this is for 99.9% of assistants I have worked with.

We matter. We deserve respect. We deserve our place on the healthcare team, and to not have our voices or profession undermined. Especially without our consent.

I am strongly opposed to Policy 514H-2024 (Foreign Trained Dentists Practicing Dental Hygiene Scope of Practice)

Fionn Murphy is the best boyfriend. Kierstyn Brescia is the best dental hygienist. She did a perfect impression map of my teeth.

I as a citizen I prefer to still receive proper dental hygiene services by licensed dental hygienists

Preserve public safety and health. Ignoring the vital role of professional education and licensing for healthcare providers, including Dental Hygienists, is negligent and dangerous!

Against this bill and for educating the dental hygienists and registering with licenses

Ashlee McKinney, Kentucky RDH

The public will receive substandard care. The dentists/employers directly benefit financially from employing substandard providers. Why on earth can the ADA dictate what legally constitutes standard of care when they are the ones benefiting by lowering it? How is that not conflict of interest? The public will suffer. If preventative care is done on a sub par level, it will also create more need for dentistry to fix what wasn’t prevented. It would increase revenues for the dentists/employers. Is that not conflict of interest?

Would like to remain anonymous due to employment but am a RDH with 10 years in the field. I can say wholeheartedly that eliminating the need for accredited education in this field puts the publics health and safety in great risk. Please do not pass legislation which might cause undue harm to your voters.

I am an RDH in PA, hopefully one day ill be licensed in VA. 4 years of training is no joke. I would NEVER be able to properly and SAFELY treat patients if I was taught "on the job".