NBDHE

The NBDHE is a computer-based exam given year-round at Pearson VUE test centers in the United States and Canada (it is no longer offered in Quebec). You apply to the JCNDE using your DENTPIN, and once your eligibility is confirmed you schedule your appointment directly with Pearson VUE.

You are eligible if you meet one of the following:

• You are a student in a dental hygiene program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), and your program director (or designee) certifies that you are ready.
• You graduated from a CODA-accredited dental hygiene program and submit proof of graduation, such as your diploma or final transcript.
• You graduated from a nonaccredited program and provide an educational credential evaluation plus the letters the JCNDE requires.
• You are a dental student or dentist who meets the eligibility requirements the JCNDE sets for that route.

Obtain a DENTPIN, complete the NBDHE application with the JCNDE and pay the fee. The fee covers result reports to up to three licensing jurisdictions named when you apply and to your CODA-accredited program; additional reports cost extra. After your application is processed you have six months to test, and a 45-day extension can be purchased once per application. Schedule with Pearson VUE about 60 to 90 days before the date you want. Changes must be made at least one business day (24 hours) before the appointment and carry a $25 rescheduling fee.

On test day bring two original, current forms of identification: a primary government-issued ID with your photo and signature and a secondary ID with your name and signature. Both must match your application and DENTPIN record exactly. The test center also confirms your identity biometrically, for example with a photograph or palm vein scan. Arriving more than 30 minutes late can lead to refusal of admission and loss of the full fee.

The test specifications divide the 200 discipline-based items into three areas and add 150 case-based items.

Anatomic sciences, physiology, biochemistry and nutrition, microbiology and immunology, pathology, and pharmacology, with local anesthesia named alongside pharmacology.

The largest area. It covers patient assessment (including oral and occlusal evaluation), dental radiography, emerging technologies, care planning, anxiety and pain control (including local anesthesia), periodontal disease management (including implant care), preventive agents, supportive treatment services and professional responsibility (including documentation and risk management). This guide reviews infection control, medical emergencies and patients with special needs in Section 7 because they shape every care plan.

Reading and judging scientific literature, statistical concepts, applying research results, promoting health and preventing disease in groups, and assessing, planning, carrying out and evaluating community oral health programs. Some of these items are presented as testlets, in which several items share one scenario.

Twelve to fifteen patient cases, adult and child, each followed by a set of items, for 150 items in all. Patients may be geriatric, adult periodontal, pediatric, special needs or medically compromised, and each case is presented through a history, dental and periodontal charts, radiographs and clinical photographs.

Each case opens with a patient box listing the patient's age, sex and chief complaint, and often vital signs, medical history, current medications, dental history, social history and other findings. The case also includes a dental chart, a periodontal chart with probing depths, radiographs and clinical photographs. Charts use the Universal numbering system: permanent teeth 1 to 32 starting with the maxillary right third molar, and primary teeth A to T starting with the maxillary right second molar. If information is not given in the patient box, assume it is unknown or not available.

In this guide's practice tests, each case is printed once before its first question, and radiographs, charts and photographs are described in words and small tables. Each later question names the details it needs, so you can practice going back to the case record the way you will on the real exam.

Each item has three to five options and one correct or best answer; most of the official sample items have four. Every practice question in this guide has four options.

The NBDHE is criterion-referenced and reported as pass or fail. Scale scores range from 49 to 99, and the minimum passing scale score is 75. A 75 is not 75% of the questions correct; it is a converted score that means the same thing on every form of the exam. Pass or fail depends only on your total scale score, not on any single area. Some items are unscored and look the same as scored items, so give every question your best effort. There is no penalty for guessing. Results usually appear in your DENTPIN account within three weeks and within four at most, and they are sent to the jurisdictions you listed and to your dental hygiene program. If you do not pass, your report shows your performance in 13 discipline areas and the case area.

If you do not pass, you must wait at least 60 days before your next attempt, and you may test no more than four times in any 12-month period. Under the Five Years/Five Attempts rule you must pass within five years of your first attempt or within five attempts, whichever comes first; after that you may test once every six months. Each attempt needs a new application and fee. If you pass, you may not retake the exam unless a state board or regulatory agency requires it.

The NBDHE is one part of licensure. Complete your state's clinical examination (or the state's accepted alternative), any jurisprudence or law and ethics examination, background check and CPR requirement, and apply to the board of dentistry in the state where you will practice. Some states require a separate permit for local anesthesia or nitrous oxide administration.