Melissa Obrotka
For patients across Arizona, a routine dental checkup has become a gamble. Senate Bill 1124, signed into law in April 2025, created a new category called “Oral Preventive Assistants” with a drastically abbreviated training pathway for dental assistants to perform scaling and prophylaxis procedures. The difference in educational requirements is substantial.
A registered dental hygienist accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation completes nearly 3,000 hours of comprehensive education covering pharmacology, anatomy, periodontics, dental radiology, microbiology, oral pathology and the clinical application of preventive and therapeutic care. The dental hygiene curriculum prepares these professionals to assess and care for patients across the spectrum — from routine preventive procedures to complex cases involving gum disease and systemic health connections.
Under the new law, Arizona now permits dental assistants to become oral preventive assistants and perform scaling procedures with 120 hours of training. That’s less than 4% of the education standard that CODA-accredited programs require.
While legislators intended to address Arizona’s dental workforce shortage, this approach may have created more problems than it will solve. Arizona’s oral health challenges are already significant, with children in rural counties and those from lower-income communities experiencing disproportionate difficulties accessing quality care. And now because of SB1124, the state has a two-tiered system in which the level of care you receive depends on whether your provider completed comprehensive training or an abbreviated program.
Graduates of alternative licensing programs often lack the foundational knowledge and clinical experience necessary to perform the essential screenings and assessments that registered dental hygienists provide. When a patient sits in the dental chair, they trust that the person treating them is a qualified, educated professional. SB1124 betrayed that trust, leaving vulnerable populations even more susceptible to missed diagnoses and preventable health complications.
Health care decisions should be based on the best available evidence and the highest achievable standards of care. When we compromise on training requirements, we’re essentially conducting an experiment with public health — and the results may not be apparent until it’s too late to address them.
Furthermore, as direct connections between oral health and systemic conditions continue to be uncovered, the frontline of oral health providers must be held to a higher, not a lower, standard. Due to the expanding medical insights across cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and other care intersections with oral health, dental practices will struggle to meet the clinical demands of patients if they hire less-educated oral preventive assistants with potentially lower standards of care. Their ability to serve patients and the long-term sustainability of their businesses will be severely compromised.
As we look forward, a fundamental question remains – should addressing workforce shortages come at the expense of educational standards that were developed to protect public safety?
While it is admirable that Arizona’s legislators have fought for solutions to address the state’s dental workforce shortage, compromising the quality of care to fill a gap is not a viable solution. It’s a dangerous shortcut. Yet, Arizona’s approach is being watched by other states facing similar workforce challenges, including Nevada and Oklahoma. If abbreviated training programs become normalized without clear evidence of maintained safety and effectiveness, this model could spread.
The health of every Arizonan depends on educated, skilled health care professionals. The passage of SB1124 serves as a stark reminder to every state that the quality of provider education cannot be taken for granted. It’s time for registered dental hygienists and allied dental professionals to speak out and demand better, not just for the health of their patients, but for the integrity of the industry as a whole.
In the meantime, Arizonans have the right and the responsibility to know what this means for their own health and their next dental appointment. Considering recent developments, every Arizonan should be an advocate for their own health.
Before your next dental appointment, consider asking your provider about the qualifications of their hygienist. Is your hygienist CODA-accredited? How many hours of training did they complete? What are their credentials for detecting oral pathology and managing medical situations? These aren’t unreasonable questions — they’re the kind of informed inquiries that help you make better health care decisions for your family, and demonstrate to dental clinics across Arizona that the public demands a higher standard for provider education than the state’s legislators have assumed.
Melissa Obrotka is a board member of the Oral Health Awareness Project.