Dental Hygiene
Associate Degree, Career Training

Why Earn Your Dental Hygiene Associate Degree at NCC?

Ready to become a dental hygienist? Northampton Community College’s (NCC) associate in applied science (AAS) degree in dental hygiene empowers you with the training and clinical experience required to secure your licensure and build your career.

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Our two-year dental hygiene program offers a career-focused approach and prepares you to become a licensed healthcare professional. As a dental hygienist, you play an integral role in a patient care team and provide preventive dental care, such as educating patients about oral health, cleaning teeth, taking dental x-rays, placing dental sealants, providing fluoride treatments, administering local anesthetics, and more. With trustworthy accreditation from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), our program delivers the high-quality training you need to educate your patients on oral health and deliver excellent care.

Enroll in NCC's dental hygiene program — one of the most respected and competitive in Pennsylvania!

Gain 700+ Hours of Clinical Training

At NCC, we prioritize hands-on learning, ensuring you know how to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios and execute the core responsibilities of a working dental hygienist. Our program integrates pre-clinical and clinical training at the Fowler Family Southside Center's dental clinic into your education to strengthen patient care skills and familiarize you with medical technology and equipment. As you become more comfortable in clinical settings, your confidence and professionalism also grow.

Secure Your Pennsylvania Dental Hygienist Licensure

Our CODA-accredited dental hygiene program provides comprehensive preparation for both licensure and career success. Through a blend of science-based coursework and hands-on clinical experience, our program satisfies all educational requirements for Pennsylvania dental hygiene licensure. After completing an associate degree, you must earn a passing grade on the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (written) and a state or regional clinical examination. Once licensed, you'll be ready to begin your profession as a dental hygienist.

Learn more about how to obtain your dental hygienist licensure in Pennsylvania.

Explore a Broad Range of Transfer Opportunities

After you successfully pass your licensure exams, you’re ready to begin working as a dental hygienist. If you want to continue your education, though, we set you up for success at NCC by helping you save time and money and creating a seamless transfer process. Our credits have excellent transfer potential. If you plan to transfer to another college or university to complete a bachelor’s degree, we encourage you to connect with your advisor to receive personalized support and learn more about how the process works.

What You’ll Learn in This Program

NCC’s two-year dental hygiene program curriculum offers an engaging, hands-on education to build your skill set and healthcare knowledge. As you progress through the degree program, you take a series of science courses, lectures, and labs and gain experience working with real patients at our on-site dental hygiene clinic.

You gain a robust understanding of chemistry, human biology, and microbiology, as well as oral histology, oral anatomy, and oral radiology. Additionally, you explore fundamental and advanced preventive oral health services, such as preventing gingivitis and dental caries, non-surgical periodontal therapies, intraoral camera imaging, ultrasonic scaling, and more. To connect with local communities, you also study dental public health and oral epidemiology, learning how to participate in school-based programs and dental health education endeavors.

State Licensing

If you are a Northampton Community College student living outside of Pennsylvania or intending to complete an internship or clinical placement outside of the state in an NCC program leading to professional licensure, you should review the requirements on the state board website to ensure that the program qualifies.

Licensure requirements vary from state to state, and you may require additional authorization from the professional licensing agency in that state. Participating in a program outside of Pennsylvania, if not properly authorized by that state's professional licensing board, could result in a loss of licensing eligibility. If you need help or have questions, please contact Sherri Meyers, director of dental and auxiliary programs, for more information.

Applying to the Dental Hygiene Program

Due to its rigorous nature, acceptance into the NCC dental hygiene program is highly competitive. Additionally, since the dental hygiene program is a fall-start clinical program, the application opens on October 1 and must be completed by February 1.

Please carefully review all provided information and requirements to ensure a smooth application process.

Tuition and Financial Aid

NCC is proud to be one of Pennsylvania’s most affordable community colleges. We offer low tuition and fees and robust scholarship and financial aid opportunities, empowering you to earn a dental hygiene associate degree by making your education more accessible. NCC’s dental hygiene program provides a high return on investment in your career or transfer program.