Nevada Has Lost 20% of Its Hygienists Since 2020 as Board Weighs Scaling Rule

Edited by Hygienetown staff

Nevada has seen roughly a 20% decline in licensed dental hygienists since 2020 while its number of dentists held steady, state dental board President Ronald West said, as the board weighs a regulation that would let trained dental assistants perform supragingival scaling.

West said Nevada now has about 0.8 dental hygienists for every general dentist. In a Nevada Dental Association survey, nearly half of the dental offices responding reported at least one vacant hygiene position, and 7 in 10 dentists said the shortage has lengthened patient wait times. West said the state’s existing hygiene education programs cannot produce enough graduates to meet demand and called for longer-term work with educators and policymakers.

Hygienists have objected forcefully to the proposed remedy. Public comment the board compiled for its March 25 meeting runs more than 300 pages and is dominated by licensed hygienists opposing the scaling provision, listed as agenda item 6.a.v. Commenters wrote that the proposal would let assistants with less education than hygienists scale at the prophylaxis level under a temporary endorsement, and that expanding clinical duties without corresponding education risks compromising patient safety and undermines the standards that protect the public.

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association opposes the oral preventive assistant model in its published position statement, arguing the training is not comparable to the extensive didactic and clinical education required of hygienists.

Nevada Dental Association President Aimee Abittan said the proposal creates an auxiliary role intended as a force multiplier for hygienists, freeing them to concentrate on periodontal disease, and is modeled on programs in Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois.

The ADA told the board in a July letter that it continues to support the changes to Nevada Administrative Code 631.220, building on comments it filed in April. The association called the proposal thorough, well-researched, and responsive to the needs of patients and providers in Nevada, and said it is consistent with ADA policy dating to 1996.

The ADA also cited activity elsewhere: the Missouri Dental Board voted in May to promulgate a rule creating a periodontal expanded-function dental assistant after reviewing that state’s pilot, two Arizona schools plan to enroll oral preventive assistant students this fall, and a Virginia law permitting trained assistants to perform supragingival scaling and coronal polishing took effect July 1.

The proposal remains before the board.

Sources:
ADA News, “ADA reaffirms support for Nevada proposal to expand dental assistant duties,” Aug. 4, 2026: adanews.ada.org/2026/august/nevada-proposal-dental-assistant-duties
Nevada State Board of Dental Examiners, additional public comment compiled for the March 25, 2026 board meeting: dental.nv.gov/…/3.25.2026_Additional_Public_Comment.pdf
American Dental Hygienists’ Association, position statement on the Dental Access Model Act, Dec. 20, 2024: adha.org/…/ADHA_PositionStatement_Dental_Access_Model_Act.pdf