“Academic requirements save lives,” and “Elevate requirements, don’t erase them,” learn the indicators carried by about 50 dental hygienists who gathered in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 25.
The demonstration, organized by the non-profit Oral Well being Consciousness Projec (OHAP), passed off throughout the American Dental Affiliation’s SmileCon and 2025 Home of Delegates assembly to deliver wider consideration to the problem. The group, formally shaped in June 2025 after gaining traction on social media, goals to oppose efforts they are saying would decrease or bypass the Fee on Dental Accreditation (CODA)’s practically 3,000-hour academic requirement for dental hygienists—usually accomplished by means of a two-year affiliate’s or four-year bachelor’s diploma.
Though the rally was primarily made up of dental hygienists, various dentists and public coverage college students additionally attended, in line with organizers.
“We even had dentists come out to satisfy with us,” stated Lisandra Maisonet, BS, RDH, PHDHP, EFDA, government director of OHAP. “They informed us they’re on our aspect with regards to defending academic requirements.”
“OHAP started as a motion — hygienists from throughout the U.S. coming collectively on-line to defend academic requirements and shield sufferers,” Maisonet added. “We’re not a union or an affiliation; we’re a collective voice saying, ‘our sufferers deserve care from totally educated professionals.’”
Maisonet stated OHAP’s function is to teach each legislators and the general public on the preventive and diagnostic experience dental hygienists deliver to affected person care.
“We weren’t created to compete with the American Dental Hygienists’ Affiliation,” she stated. “OHAP exists to guard sufferers — to verify the individuals caring for them have the suitable schooling and coaching. The ADHA represents our occupation; we’re targeted on defending the general public.”
Office elements behind the so-called scarcity
Each the American Dental Affiliation (ADA) and the ADHA have acknowledged a scarcity of practising dental hygienists in the USA. The ADHA’s 2024 workforce place assertion notes that 24.7 million Individuals reside in dental-care scarcity areas, whereas 1.7 million can not entry care inside a 30-minute drive, and that periodontal illness prices $154 billion yearly in misplaced productiveness.
Final 12 months, the ADA handed a decision permitting foreign-trained dentists to work as dental hygienists — a transfer rejected by the ADHA, which submitted written testimony to CODA opposing modifications that will let internationally educated suppliers bypass accredited packages.
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Proposals have continued. Nevada’s Senate Invoice 495, which might have permitted licensure with out CODA accreditation, failed earlier this 12 months following opposition from the ADHA and the Nevada Dental Hygienists’ Affiliation. In October, the ADHA’s board reaffirmed help for CODA-accredited schooling and rejected any “preceptor coaching” or Alabama Dental Hygiene Program (ADHP)-type pathways that circumvent these necessities. The ADHP stays the one non-CODA path to licensure within the U.S.
Maisonet stated such proposals miss the actual subject.
“I don’t imagine we’re going through a real scarcity of dental hygienists — we’re going through a scarcity of excellent working circumstances,” she stated. “If extra practices provided advantages, paid trip and a supportive surroundings, we’d see many hygienists return to the chair.”
“There are greater than 200,000 licensed dental hygienists within the U.S.,” she added. “The issue isn’t numbers — it’s that many depart personal follow as a result of they don’t obtain advantages, paid break day or respect for his or her scientific experience. If dental workplaces improved working environments and handled hygienists as integral members of the care group, we’d clear up a lot of the so-called scarcity in a single day.”
The danger of inconsistency
Anne O. Rice, RDH, BS, FAAOSH, CDP, a member of OHAP’s 22-member process pressure, stated affected person security is on the coronary heart of the group’s considerations.
“When various licensing fashions for dental hygienists are launched, the best dangers to affected person care usually come from inconsistency,” Rice stated. “Our occupation was constructed on a robust basis of schooling, scientific competency and licensure requirements designed to guard the general public. If these benchmarks are diluted or range extensively from state to state, we danger creating confusion for sufferers — and even amongst suppliers — about what companies can safely be delivered.”
She added that insufficient coaching pathways might result in “fragmentation of care,” affecting accountability and continuity in analysis and prevention.
“Why put money into the schooling, debt and duty of turning into a licensed dental hygienist if anybody can carry out the identical companies with much less preparation?” she requested. “Excessive requirements entice excessive expertise. If we wish sustainable practices, we have to shield the worth {of professional} schooling — not undermine it.”
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‘Entrance line of preventive drugs’
One other OHAP board member Melissa Obrotka, BA, RDH, ICP Coach, stated the motion underscores how dental hygiene is central to whole-body well being.
“Dental hygiene is the entrance line of preventive drugs,” Obrotka stated. “Within the chair, we don’t simply scrape and polish enamel; we detect irritation, an infection and early indicators of systemic illness that may change the course of somebody’s well being. That duty calls for accredited schooling, evidence-based coaching and scientific excellence. Diluting these requirements dangers greater than public belief — it dangers lives.”
Maisonet stated the D.C. rally marks just the start.
“We’re constructing a military of hygienists prepared to talk to legislators, educate their sufferers and get up for the requirements that shield public well being,” she stated. “This isn’t about competitors — it’s about collaboration and integrity in affected person care.”