Dental assistants narrowly escape getting the chop
About 2500 dental assistants who were to lose their jobs at the end of next month have been given a reprieve by the Health Professions' Council of SA.The council had told the SA Dentists' Association that unregistered dental assistants and the dentists who employ them would be breaking the law from April if the assistants continued to work.The law requires assistants to register with the HPCSA or quit.To register, assistants must complete a year-long course at one of four universities of technology.The dentists' association said the council's new requirement would result in dentists treating fewer patients at greater cost.The association's CEO, Maretha Smit, praised the council for changing its mind: "This move will avert the retrenchment of thousands of dental assistants."HPCSA spokesman Priscilla Sekhonyana said the council would allow unqualified but experienced assistants to be provisionally registered for two years...
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