Top 20 Tips to Get You to Dental Hygiene Graduation & Beyond

As a student:

1. Join CDHA with FREE student membership and receive automatic renewal of your student membership every year.
2. Start saving with CDHA Perks featuring discounts on everyday purchases from hundreds of businesses.
3. Get involved with CDHA and your class; apply to be a CDHA student leader.
4. Take advantage of CDHA's networking, resources, and professional development opportunities including FREE webinars all year long! Join CDHA's Student Facebook Group.
5. Attend classes, ask questions, study hard, be proactive in seeking support, and succeed on your exams and assignments.
6. Meet with a career advisor/faculty advisor at your school to go over your career objectives. Find out how you can gain experience to fill any gaps before graduation to make you a better candidate for the type of career you want.
7. Complete your dental hygiene coursework. Make sure that you have completed the required number of classroom, clinical hours, and community hours.
8. Make some lifelong friends along the way!

Preparing for graduation:

9. Apply to write the National Dental Hygiene Certification Examination at fdhrc.ca (not mandatory for licensure in Quebec.)

Examination Dates	Application Deadline Dates
January 22–23, 2025	November 22, 2024
May 21–22, 2025	March 21, 2025
September 17–18, 2025	July 17, 2025



10. Prepare for the national certification examination. For more information on the examination, consult: fdhrc.ca/pages/ndhce/exam-prep.
11. Be successful on the national certification examination.
12. Celebrate passing your board exam!

Preparing for practice:

13. Once you pass the national certification examination, upgrade to FREE CDHA Graduated Student membership. CDHA’s Graduated Student membership category includes professional liability insurance (PLI) coverage of up to $5 million aggregate until December 31 of the year in which you passed the national certification examination. Note: Cost of licensure in the province of Québec includes PLI.
14. Invest in your future health and consider other insurance coverage through CDHA with Securian, such as extended health, dental insurance, and disability coverage.
15. When you have secured a dental hygiene position, apply for registration with the provincial regulatory body of the province where you will be practising. Different provinces have different regulatory requirements for dental hygiene. Contact the regulatory body directly to ensure you fulfill their registration requirements. Some other requirements that some provinces have include jurisprudence and criminal record checks.
16. Explore different careers in dental hygiene and employment opportunities career centre.
17. Network with your dental community. Attend conferences, job fairs, and community events. Click here to view CDHA's Oral Health Events Calendar.
18. Embody CDHA's professional identity statement to be a better ambassador for the profession and your national association.
19. If you plan to practise in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, consider taking the self-initiation course.
20. Embrace lifelong learning by staying involved with CDHA through events, webinars, courses, and committees.