Nevada’s entire dental care system is under assault, threatened by corporate interests and anti-public-health lobbying. There is a legitimate risk that Nevadans will be harmed physically, financially, and professionally if we allow greedy corporations and their lobbyists to rewrite Nevada’s long-established healthcare standards. These standards aren’t obstacles. They’re protections. Only those with no regard for quality care would see them as barriers. Senate Bill 495 seeks to dismantle those standards under false pretenses.

On March 21, 2025, Assembly Bill 334 was introduced. A key provision would have granted expanded functions to poorly trained dental assistants to practice restorative dental hygiene, actions currently reserved for licensed dental hygienists. As expected, the proposal drew swift and vocal opposition. In response, the controversial provision was withdrawn in an amendment. But the victory was short-lived.

On May 27, 2025, just a week later, the 100-page Senate Bill 495 emerged. While AB 334 tried to tiptoe through the back door, SB 495 kicked it wide open. Sections 77–79 of the bill grant dentists sweeping authority to delegate restorative dental hygiene duties, effectively allowing them to create pseudo-hygienists with minimal oversight. This is not reform. It is deregulation disguised as innovation. The spirit of AB 334 lives on in SB 495, this time with the full force of legislative overreach. These lobbyists are no longer pretending to negotiate in good faith. The strategy is clear: drown the opposition in bureaucracy and bulldoze healthcare standards in the name of efficiency and profit. The working class, specifically dental hygienists, is the first target.

This isn’t just a local concern. On May 29, 2025, the American Dental Association (ADA) released a letter endorsing SB 495, claiming Section 77 is a “creative” response to Nevada’s hygienist shortage. But let’s call this what it is: a workaround, not a solution. If a business claimed “creative accounting” solved its financial crisis, we’d call it fraud. Why is “creative credentialing” acceptable in healthcare? Where was the ADA when AB 334 faced public outrage? Silent. Now they’ve stepped in, not for patients or hygienists, but seemingly for corporate lobbyists. Maybe it’s time to start calling them the Anti-American Dental Association.

Let’s unpack the real issue.

Most people don’t realize just how rigorous dental hygiene training truly is. In Nevada, all dental hygienists must complete an accredited associate’s degree program or higher. At institutions like Truckee Meadows Community College, this means earning a Bachelor of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene, which requires 120 college units, roughly two years of prerequisites focusing primarily on math and science, followed by two years of intensive, specialized coursework.

This includes:

·      At least 208 hours of hands-on clinical training under the supervision of licensed dental hygiene faculty and dentists.

·      Extensive instruction in head, neck, and oral cancer screenings.

·      Training in ergonomics to reduce the risk of repetitive motion injuries common in the profession.

·      Community outreach, including public health screenings and education.

Together, these experiences equip students with the clinical expertise and ethical grounding essential for safe, patient-centered care. Upon graduation, students must pass the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, a state ethics exam, and a regional clinical board exam to obtain licensure. This rigorous process ensures that hygienists are thoroughly trained to protect patient safety and public health. By contrast, SB 495 would allow dentists to delegate restorative duties to anyone they consider trainable, regardless of formal education, effectively turning them into pseudo-hygienists. Expecting a dentist to train such individuals to the same standard, while running a full practice, is unrealistic at best and dangerous at worst. If lobbyists had their way, an untrained office hire could step into clinical care roles after just a few weeks of informal, on-the-job shadowing.

Would you be comfortable receiving care from a nurse who never attended nursing school, who learned only through on-the-job training? That’s the model SB 495 promotes. And the result? A predictable rise in preventable disease, from diabetes and heart disease to oral cancer.

Yes, there’s a shortage of dental hygienists, but only in rural Nevada. If this legislation were genuinely about addressing that, it would be limited to those areas. Instead, SB 495 applies statewide. This isn’t about helping underserved communities. It’s about cutting costs in urban centers by replacing trained professionals with underqualified substitutes. Dentists working in cities stand to benefit the most, using cheap labor to pad their bottom lines while blaming hygienists for the rising cost of care. The real culprit? Insurance companies. Reimbursement rates for dental cleanings have barely budged in decades, yet hygienists are vilified for earning a wage that keeps up with inflation. SB 495 punishes them for trying to survive.

If SB 495 becomes law, malpractice lawsuits will follow. Standards of care are clearly defined, and once practices begin employing “restorative assistants,” it becomes easier to prove negligence. Corporate practices can absorb this liability. Small, independent dentists cannot. And that may be the point: squeeze them out, clear the field, and allow corporate monopolies to take over.

The ADA’s endorsement signals a national agenda. This isn’t just a threat to Nevada. Their support for SB 495 has damaged their credibility. If they’re so willing to compromise safety and professional integrity for convenience, can we trust their recommendations on fluoride? On oral care products? On anything? The ADA Seal of Acceptance used to mean something. Now, it’s little more than a marketing gimmick, a gold-plated facade.

The betrayal is real, and accountability is overdue. The ADA’s leadership, specifically its president and interim executive director, should resign. They’ve broken public trust, and their continued presence undermines the integrity of the profession.

To every Nevadan: Contact your elected representatives. Demand the removal of Sections 77–79 from SB 495. If the bill passes, call for Governor Joe Lombardo to veto it.

The safety and dignity of our healthcare system are not negotiable. Upholding standards is not resistance to progress. It is the foundation of trust, safety, and professionalism. Let’s protect it, now and for the future of dental care in Nevada.

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