This browser does not support the Video element.
New Arizona law could change dental industry
A new law signed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs allows dental assistants to perform the duties of dental hygienists, which could impact your next trip to the dentist office. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas has the story.
PHOENIX - Governor Katie Hobbs signed more than 20 bills into law this week, including one that could change your experience at the dentist.
A new law will let dental assistants fill in as hygienists.
Changes may be coming to your local dental office
So what does this really mean?
Instead of a dental hygienist cleaning your teeth, it could now be a dental assistant under this newly signed bill.
"I think more access sounds good, you know, and it can be good. It's just we just have to be careful about are these people actually being supervised sufficiently to do the work that they're doing, that they're telling you - the patient - they can do," said Matthew Ellingson.
Ellingson - CEO of Swiss Biologic Dentistry - is cautiously optimistic about a new law that will allow dental assistants to practice as oral preventative assistants (OPA).
Watch FOX 10 Phoenix live:
This browser does not support the Video element.
Why you should care:
This means they will legally be able to clean patients' teeth rather than a dental hygienist.
"The benefits are there's expanded care for more patients and maybe areas of the Valley that don't have enough hygienists that work there. The negative part is the potential for some of these dentists to try to cheap labor because these assistants will be cheaper than paying a hygienist," Ellingson said.
Under this new law, dental assistants will be required to take a training course involving 120 hours of clinical instruction with patients.
They will only be allowed to work on healthy patients and each patient has to be aware that they aren't receiving care from a licensed dental provider.
What they're saying:
"If I'm going to the dentist and I don't have full faith that a dentist is going to be working on my teeth, I wouldn't want to pay for that checkup," said Valley resident Cassandra Abril.
"That is not enough experience. Being at the dentist is hard enough. So I'd like to know that the person has the full expertise of a dentist," said another, Marc Cummings.
Dig deeper:
The OPA has to be under the supervision of a dentist or dental hygienist when performing a routine cleaning.
"Hygienists can only supervise one OPA and a dentist can supervise three, but a dentist can't really supervise three OPAs simultaneously while doing their dental work. So you really do get to the question of whether you can meet the standards of care if you're really running at full capacity on OPAs," said Ellingson.
Ellingson believes this new law could be positive if it's not abused in the dental industry.
He says employing a dental assistant is 40 to 50% cheaper than hiring a dental hygienist.
"I'd be cautious about the office if they rely solely on OPAs and no hygienists. But if there's hygienists and OPAs, you know, there's no reason why you shouldn't give them a shot."
What's next:
This bill will not go into effect until 90 days after the legislative session, and not all dental offices will necessarily take advantage of it, meaning your dental office may not be impacted.