The Region - News from Feb. 15, 1987

A Sacramento judge has denied a bid by an association of 14,000 California dentists to halt a pilot project run by California State University, Northridge, in which dental hygienists provide checkups and cleanings without the supervision of a dentist. The California Dental Assn. sued to stop the project, the first effort in the United States to assess the performance and economic viability of independent practices by dental hygienists, according to the American Dental Hygienists Assn. The suit alleged that the project posed a threat to public health. Saying the dental association failed to offer sufficient evidence that the project would irreparably harm the public, Superior Court Judge Eugene T. Gualco refused to grant a restraining order. But Gualco set a May 29 hearing on a second request from the dental association that the state Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development be required to show that it had followed rules and regulations when it approved the project.