Meeting Public Comments

Catherine Venzke

I am writing in strong opposition to HF338 and HF340. I am a former dental assistant (formally educated in a 3 semester community college program). I now practice as a dental hygienist. I can not stress how dangerous it is to let dental assistants be trained on the job. I can attest to the widespread lack of adherence to infection control protocols in many offices. I have been a temp in several that I refused to return to. I have had discussions with many fellow dental assistants and hygienists about concerning practices they have seen in dental offices. On the job training which may be done by someone else who was trained on the job is like playing a game of telephone, important details WILL be left out. It is important to have the people handling blood and other infectious materials be properly educated in how to keep themselves, other staff, and patients safe. Since the lawmakers have already decided that the public will just have to trust their safety to hand me down information, can we at least not take away the testing to ensure a most basic understanding of how to safely treat patients, how to ensure treatment instruments and treatment areas are clean and safe, and how to safely handle the hazardous materials used in dentistry (including mercury and carcinogenic cleaning agents). As to the second proposed legislation, opening up the possibility for dental assistants to administer injections of local anesthetic to patients, it is important for a patient to be properly evaluated for overall health and any allergies or contraindications to using any medication. It is a very very bad idea for a dental assistant who was trained on the job to give shots into peoples mouths. Would you personally trust someone who took no formal anatomy/physiology to understand the oral structures, nerve locations, and function to do that? Someone who did not take chemistry or pharmacology to understand how the medication they are injecting into your body works. Dentistry already struggles to be seen as "real healthcare", I can assure you there are some professionals in the field that want to uphold high standards. These bills are about money, not patient safety or best interest. They are so the dentist can pay OJT staff less. They are so dentists can see more patients in a day, drill and fill, and make more $$$ while their minimally trained and untested staff numbs their patients with "hopefully" sterile needles.