“Academic requirements save lives,” and “Increase 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), occurred throughout the American Dental Affiliation’s SmileCon and 2025 Home of Delegates assembly to carry 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 instructional requirement for dental hygienists—sometimes accomplished by way of a two-year affiliate’s or four-year bachelor’s diploma.
Though the rally was primarily made up of dental hygienists, a lot of dentists and public coverage college students additionally attended, in response to organizers.
“We even had dentists come out to satisfy with us,” stated Lisandra Maisonet, BS, RDH, PHDHP, EFDA, govt director of OHAP. “They instructed us they’re on our facet in terms of defending instructional requirements.”
“OHAP started as a motion — hygienists from throughout the U.S. coming collectively on-line to defend instructional 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 absolutely educated professionals.’”
Maisonet stated OHAP’s goal is to teach each legislators and the general public on the preventive and diagnostic experience dental hygienists carry to affected person care.
“We weren’t created to compete with the American Dental Hygienists’ Affiliation,” she stated. “OHAP exists to guard sufferers — to ensure the individuals caring for them have the best training and coaching. The ADHA represents our occupation; we’re centered on defending the general public.”
Office components behind the so-called scarcity
Each the American Dental Affiliation (ADA) and the ADHA have acknowledged a scarcity of practising dental hygienists in the US. The ADHA’s 2024 workforce place assertion notes that 24.7 million People dwell 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 yr, 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 skilled suppliers bypass accredited applications.
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Proposals have continued. Nevada’s Senate Invoice 495, which might have permitted licensure with out CODA accreditation, failed earlier this yr following opposition from the ADHA and the Nevada Dental Hygienists’ Affiliation. In October, the ADHA’s board reaffirmed assist for CODA-accredited training 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 problem.
“I don’t consider we’re dealing with a real scarcity of dental hygienists — we’re dealing with a scarcity of excellent working situations,” she stated. “If extra practices provided advantages, paid trip and a supportive atmosphere, 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 go away personal apply as a result of they don’t obtain advantages, paid day without work or respect for his or her scientific experience. If dental places of work improved working environments and handled hygienists as integral members of the care workforce, we’d remedy a lot of the so-called scarcity in a single day.”
The chance of inconsistency
Anne O. Rice, RDH, BS, FAAOSH, CDP, a member of OHAP’s 22-member activity power, stated affected person security is on the coronary heart of the group’s issues.
“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 powerful basis of training, scientific competency and licensure requirements designed to guard the general public. If these benchmarks are diluted or differ extensively from state to state, we threat 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 prognosis and prevention.
“Why put money into the training, debt and duty of changing into a licensed dental hygienist if anybody can carry out the identical companies with much less preparation?” she requested. “Excessive requirements appeal to excessive expertise. If we wish sustainable practices, we have to shield the worth {of professional} training — not undermine it.”
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‘Entrance line of preventive medication’
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 medication,” 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 training, evidence-based coaching and scientific excellence. Diluting these requirements dangers greater than public belief — it dangers lives.”
Maisonet stated the D.C. rally marks only the start.
“We’re constructing a military of hygienists prepared to talk to legislators, educate their sufferers and rise 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.”