Is a dental hygienist qualified to diagnose periodontitis?

I am also a dental hygienist. I went to school for 4 years and have a bachelors of dental hygiene. It is the job of the hygienist to diagnose periodontal disease. The dentist focuses on the teeth and the hygienist focuses on the health of the gums. Any dentist would agree the hygienist is very qualified, usually more than the dentist to diagnose gum disease. It what we do! I would be more mad at your previous office for being to lazy to diagnose it. Un diagnosed perio is the number one dental lawsuit. And only the first cleaning usually requires anesthesia and that's only because you have build up under your gums that need to be cleaned. Only the first cleaning is like that. If you keep up on your cleaning it wont be like that every time. Good luck