I strongly oppose the Board of Dentistry's decision NOT to issue regulations or guidance for the new scaling assistant law. The law leaves key terms and requirements-such as "clinical experience, supervision and documentation" undefined. Without clear Board standards, training and patient safety will vary widely from one dental office to another.

Dentists are now responsible for training scaling assistants, but there are not clear rules on how this should be done. Will dentists be asking the RDH to train? if so, it is clearly against our code of ethics. The board already regulates dental assistants, and their scope of practice. It must continue to do so to provide clear standard for implementing the new law. The safety of patients and the integrity of the dental profession depend on it.