# How to become a dental hygienist

The usual route is a 2-year associate degree from a CODA-accredited program, then board exams. Counting prerequisite courses, plan on about 3 years.

- **Author:** MedJobList Team
- **Published:** Jul 25, 2026

## What a dental hygienist does

A dental hygienist cleans teeth, takes dental x-rays, and checks patients for signs of gum disease, working in a licensed role alongside a dentist, with the level of supervision set by state law. The license title is registered dental hygienist, and postings use the letters RDH and the words dental hygienist for the same job. A dental assistant is a different job with a shorter training path, and our [RDA certification guide](/guides/rda-certification) covers it.

The day is chairside: remove tartar and plaque, apply fluoride and sealants, take and develop radiographs, write up what you found for the dentist, and talk patients through brushing and flossing. Hygienists held about 221,600 US jobs in 2024 and 94% of those were in offices of dentists (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024 data). Part-time schedules are common, and a dentist may hire a hygienist for only a few days a week, so some hygienists work for more than one practice.

## How long it takes to become a dental hygienist

About 3 years from a standing start. BLS counts the dental hygiene program itself at 3 years ("Programs typically take 3 years to complete", Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024 data) and lists prerequisite college courses as a separate requirement most programs add on top. The community college programs below run their dental hygiene phase in 2 years with the prerequisites in front of it, which lands in the same place. A bachelor's route runs 4 years.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Prerequisite college courses | As many as 40 credit hours of prerequisite college coursework (ADEA GoDental, 2026), which at the top end is 2 to 3 full-time semesters. Santa Rosa Junior College's science list is anatomy, chemistry, physiology, and microbiology, all finished before you apply. |
| Waiting for a seat | Up to a year, because these programs admit one cohort a year. Pasadena City College takes applications March 1 to April 1 only, for a fall start. |
| The program itself | 2 years of full-time study for the associate degree, which is what Pasadena City College's AS in dental hygiene runs (program page, 2026). |
| Bachelor's instead | 4 years. Ohio State's Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene is a 2 + 2 curriculum: 2 years of prerequisites and general education, then 2 years in the dental hygiene major. |
| Licensing after graduation | Weeks to a few months, depending on your exam dates and how fast your state board processes the application. |
| Total, with no college behind you | 3 to 3.5 years if your prerequisites finish right before an application window, a year more if you miss one and wait out a cohort. The bachelor's route is 4 years either way. |

## The degree and program you need

You need a dental hygiene program accredited by the [Commission on Dental Accreditation](https://coda.ada.org/) (CODA), and at the associate level that is the typical entry-level education for the job (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024 data). Graduating from a CODA-accredited program is what makes you eligible for the national board exam and for a state license.

CODA accredits 3 kinds of entry-level programs, and all 3 let a graduate sit the licensing exams (ADEA GoDental, 2026):

- **Associate degree.** The common route, taught at community and technical colleges. ADEA puts the average at 2 years and 84 credit hours.
- **Baccalaureate degree.** 4 years and about 120 credit hours, usually at a university with a dental school attached.
- **Post-baccalaureate.** For someone who already holds a bachelor's degree in another subject and wants a second one in dental hygiene.

The associate degree qualifies you for the same license and the same clinical jobs, which is why it is the common route. A bachelor's or master's is usually required for research, teaching, or clinical practice in public or school health programs (BLS, 2024 data), so the longer route pays off if that is where you want to end up.

Clinic hours are in person. Lecture coursework can run online, and the scaling, probing, and radiography practice happens on campus and on patients in the school clinic.

## Getting into a dental hygiene program

Admission is the bottleneck at every program we checked: seats are capped and each one screens applicants before it lets them start. Eastern Washington University admits 40 students a year and names the next 10 as alternates. Programs read your prerequisite grades first, and several add a test, an interview, or a shadowing requirement on top.

What the gate looks like differs by school. All 5 of these read 2026-07-25:

- **Pasadena City College (CA).** Overall GPA of 3.0 or better, C or better in general education prerequisites, B or better in the biomedical sciences, and every prerequisite finished before you apply. Qualified applicants then go into a lottery.
- **Santa Rosa Junior College (CA).** A 2.75 minimum GPA in anatomy, chemistry, physiology, and microbiology, and those courses have to be less than 7 years old. Also a lottery. For the Fall 2026 cohort the application window ran October 6, 2025 to January 23, 2026.
- **Ohio State University (OH).** Cumulative GPA of 2.7 and a science average of 2.5, plus 20 documented hours observing hygienists in at least 2 different practices. Applications close February 9.
- **Eastern Washington University (WA).** A 100-point score decides it: 40% prerequisite science GPA, 20% the Health Sciences Reasoning Test, 15% cumulative GPA, 15% an interview, 10% a review of the whole application.
- **Community College of Philadelphia (PA).** A high school diploma or GED, a 2.50 GPA if you have prior college credit, a pre-entrance allied health test, and criminal record plus child abuse clearances that Pennsylvania law requires.

Two things follow from that spread. Pick your target schools before you register for prerequisites, since a course that satisfies one program can be too old or too weak for the next. And apply a full cycle ahead: a missed window costs 12 months.

## Getting licensed

Every state licenses dental hygienists, and the license is what lets you practice. You graduate from the CODA-accredited program, pass the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, pass a clinical exam your state accepts, and apply to the state dental board. ADEA lists a state jurisprudence and ethics exam as the fourth step (ADEA, 2026), and the by-state picture is in the license guide.

The exams, their fees, renewal, and the ways requirements change from state to state are in our [dental hygienist license guide](/guides/dental-hygienist-license). Many hygiene jobs also ask for a current CPR card, which the Occupational Outlook Handbook lists as a common requirement; our [BLS and CPR guide](/guides/bls-cpr-certification) covers that one.

## Step by step: how to become a dental hygienist

1. Finish high school or a GED. Biology, chemistry, and math help, and Community College of Philadelphia asks for a year of high school biology, chemistry, and college-prep math with C grades.
2. Pick 2 or 3 CODA-accredited programs you could realistically attend, and read their prerequisite lists side by side before you enroll anywhere.
3. Take the prerequisite college courses. Anatomy, physiology, chemistry, microbiology, English, and psychology are the usual set.
4. Clear the extras your schools want: an entrance test, observation hours, immunizations, a background check, a CPR card.
5. Apply in the window. It is short and it happens once a year.
6. Finish the program, clinic rotations included.
7. Pass the national written board and the clinical exam your state accepts.
8. Apply to the state dental board, then start applying to openings once the license is issued.

## What dental hygiene school costs

Two of the public colleges we checked publish full cost sheets for their associate programs, and the figures run from the low $20,000s to the mid $30,000s. Grand Rapids Community College lists $27,898 for its 2025-26 class at the resident rate, and that figure excludes the pre-dental-hygiene coursework. Portland Community College headlines $23,000 to $25,000 for its program including Oregon licensure and excluding prerequisites, though its own itemized sheet for the Class of 2025 totals $35,368 once optional and non-instructional costs are counted.

Tuition is only part of it. At Grand Rapids, instrument kits and dental course fees add $4,923 across the 5 semesters, textbooks another $2,260, and scrubs, lab coats, clinic shoes, and safety glasses $350. Residency moves the tuition line hard: Grand Rapids charges $163 per contact hour to residents, $347 to other Michigan students and $522 out of state. Exam and license fees come after graduation and are covered in the [license guide](/guides/dental-hygienist-license).

## What dental hygienists earn

The median wage for dental hygienists was $94,260 a year, or $45.32 an hour, in May 2024 ([BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-hygienists.htm)). That is the midpoint across all experience levels and all states, so a first job out of school usually pays under it.

Two live examples from our own listings, both checked 2026-07-25: a Minnesota health system posts a dental hygienist job at $43.34 to $59.44 an hour, and a Colorado community health center posts a full-time one at $86,000 to $99,000 a year. BLS projects 7% employment growth for the occupation between 2024 and 2034, with about 15,300 openings a year over the decade, many of them from hygienists retiring or moving to other work.

## Where dental hygienists are hiring now

Right now 20 of the active US openings we track are dental hygienist roles. On 2026-07-25 they came from 4 employers: a California health system, a Minnesota health system, a Colorado community health center network, and an Ohio academic health center.

Every posting in that set was on-site, which is what a chairside job is, and all but one carried RDH as their credential tag. The schedules were mixed: full-time, part-time, 4 days a week, and per diem, also posted as PRN. You can see the current listings on our [dental hygienist jobs](/dental-hygienist-jobs) page.

## FAQ

### How long does it take to become a dental hygienist?

About 3 years if you are starting with no college credit: 2 to 3 semesters of prerequisite courses, then a 2-year associate degree in dental hygiene. BLS puts the dental hygiene program itself at 3 years and counts prerequisites as a separate requirement most programs add on top, which lands in the same place. An entry-level bachelor's degree takes 4 years.

### How many years of schooling is a dental hygienist?

2 years for the dental hygiene program itself at the associate level, plus the prerequisite college courses that come first. Ohio State's entry-level Bachelor of Science runs 4 years as a 2 + 2 curriculum: 2 years of prerequisites and general education, then 2 years in the major.

### Do you need a bachelor's degree to be a dental hygienist?

No. An associate degree from a CODA-accredited program is the typical entry-level education and it qualifies you for the same license and the same clinical jobs. A bachelor's or master's is usually required for research, teaching, or clinical practice in public or school health programs (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024 data).

### How hard is it to get into dental hygiene school?

Seats are capped and admission is competitive at the programs we checked. Eastern Washington University takes 40 students a year and ranks applicants on a 100-point score that includes a reasoning test and an interview. Pasadena City College and Santa Rosa Junior College both run a lottery among applicants who clear their prerequisite GPA. Ohio State asks for 20 documented hours of observing hygienists (school pages, 2026).

### How much does dental hygiene school cost?

Grand Rapids Community College estimates $27,898 for its 2025-26 class at the resident rate, excluding pre-dental-hygiene coursework, and Portland Community College estimates $23,000 to $25,000 including Oregon licensure and excluding prerequisites. Out-of-state tuition changes the number a lot: Residency changes the Grand Rapids number a lot: $163 per contact hour at the resident rate, $347 for other Michigan students, $522 out of state.

### How much do dental hygienists make?

The median was $94,260 a year, or $45.32 an hour, in May 2024 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Pay moves with your state and with whether the job is full-time, part-time, or per diem, and part-time schedules are common in this occupation.

Source: https://medjoblist.com/guides/how-to-become-a-dental-hygienist