Dental Hygiene (DDH) (BDH)
Hands-on experience working with patients, combined with the latest equipment and technology, will prepare you for a career as a dental hygienist.
Why choose this program?
Diploma in Dental Hygiene (DDH)
When you study dental hygiene at Dalhousie, you’ll learn about a wide variety of topics in the dental and medical professions. An emphasis is placed on technology, hands-on experience, and the applications you’ll use in your career, such as digital patient health records.
You’ll also learn in state-of-the-art facilities, such as Dalhousie’s dental clinic, that have the most up-to-date equipment available. You’ll leave with the knowledge and skills you need to become a qualified dental hygienist, whether you become part of a team in a private dental office or want to start your own dental hygiene practice.
Bachelor of Dental Hygiene (BDH)
Once you’ve completed the DDH, you may opt to take our one-year degree completion program to receive your Bachelor of Dental Hygiene (BDH). The degree completion may be completed full-time (over a one-year period) or part-time (over a two-year period). You'll gain experience in areas such as alternative practice settings, research methods, health promotion, health policy, entrepreneurship, and teaching methods.
Careers
Your Diploma in Dental Hygiene (DDH) will prepare you with everything you need to know to become a licensed dental hygienist in Canada, the United States, and Australia. In addition, the Bachelor of Dental Hygiene (BDH) will prepare you for alternative clinical practice sites, research and teaching.
The natural next step after completing the DDH would be to take the Bachelor of Dental Hygiene completion program. After you’ve completed the BDH, you’ll be eligible to pursue a master's degree.
Admission requirements
Preference is given to permanent residents of the Atlantic provinces. Applicants are selected on a competitive basis. An application form must be submitted for each year in which you apply for admission. Applicants must also arrange for official transcripts to be submitted to the Faculty of Dentistry by the issuing institution to the following address:
Faculty of Dentistry, Admissions Office
Dalhousie University
PO Box 15000
Halifax, N.S.
B3H 4R2
Applicants must disclose all successful or unsuccessful high school and/or university attendance on the application form. For more information on official transcripts visit How to Submit Documents.
Academic requirements
Applicants must have completed before May 1 of the year of expected entry to the diploma in dental hygiene program, at least 30 credit hours of study at an accredited university. These credit hours should include:
- at least three hours in introductory chemistry
- at least six credit hours in introductory biology
- at least three credit hours in human anatomy
- at least six credit hours in human physiology
- at least six credit hours in an approved writing intensive course*, and
- six additional credit hours
* A writing-intensive course may be any course defined as such by the applicant's university. Alternatively, it can be any English course(s) or any course requiring a significant amount of written work that is evaluated for composition, structure, spelling, grammar, etc as indicated in the course outline. The course must be approved by the Admissions Committee.
Acceptance into the diploma in dental hygiene program is highly competitive. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. Applicants are selected on a competitive basis. In addition to the requirements above, preference is given to applicants with evidence of having completed a full-time course load (five courses per term) and who have completed higher level science, social sciences or humanities courses.
We do not accept advanced standing or transfer students from other dental hygiene programs. All applicants admitted to the diploma of dental hygiene program must complete all years of the program at Dalhousie University.
Non-academic requirements
Interview
Competitive applicants may be requested to make themselves available for an admissions interview or an orientation session.
Supplementary Information
Applicants are required to complete the:
- School of Dental Hygiene supplementary application form [PDF - 86 kB]
- Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry Immunization/CPR Record [PDF- 110 kB] as a condition of acceptance to the program.
- Please review the Faculty of Dentistry Immunization Procedure for Applicants [PDF- 162 kB].
General Regulations
Programs in the Faculty of Dentistry involve students interacting with patients in a healthcare environment, meaning students are in a position of special trust with patients. Therefore, all students must adhere to certain regulations and standards. View the full list of health requirements [PDF- 162 kB].
Immunization and CPR Requirements
Acceptance into the Faculty of Dentistry clinical programs is normally conditional upon receipt of evidence of complete immunization of the following:
- Tetanus
- Diphtheria
- Pertussis (Td/Tdap)
- Polio
- Measles (Rubeola)
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Hepatitis B (including post-immunization Antibody Titres)
- Varicella
- COVID-19
- Annual influenza immunization for each year of study
Please note: students accepted to the program must also have a current Level C CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) course.
Academic requirements
Applicants to the one-year full-time or two-year part-time Bachelor of Dental Hygiene (BDH) completion program must have previously obtained a Diploma in Dental Hygiene from an accredited program in Canada or the United States and must be licensed or eligible for licensure to practise in Nova Scotia.
Applicants must also have completed at least one full year of university-level courses (approximately 10 courses or 30 credit hours) by May 30 of the year of expected entry. All applicants must submit a personal statement as part of their applications.
Applicants should be aware that the Bachelor of Dental Hygiene program has limited enrolment. Since the number of qualified applicants can exceed the number of places available, fulfilment of the minimum requirements is not a guarantee of admission. Preference will be given to full-time applicants. Part-time applicants will be considered if seats remain. The Faculty of Dentistry reserves the right of selection of all students for students to the program.
In compliance with Dalhousie’s academic regulations, students must complete at least 45 credit hours at Dalhousie to be granted a degree. The Bachelor of Dental Hygiene equals a total of 30 credit hours. Therefore, students who have not completed at least 15 credit hours and/or a Diploma in Dental Hygiene at Dalhousie will be required to complete 15 credit hours of elective classes from Dalhousie University before the Bachelor of Dental Hygiene degree can be awarded.
Health Requirements
General Regulations
Programs in the Faculty of Dentistry involve students interacting with patients in a health-care environment, meaning that students are in a position of special trust with patients. Therefore, all students must adhere to certain regulations and standards. View the full list of health requirements [PDF- 162 kB].
Immunization and CPR Requirements
Acceptance into the Faculty of Dentistry clinical programs is normally conditional upon receipt of evidence of complete immunization of the following:
- Tetanus
- Diphtheria
- Pertussis (Td/Tdap)
- Polio
- Measles (Rubeola)
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Hepatitis B (including post-immunization Antibody Titres)
- Varicella
- COVID-19
- Annual influenza immunization for each year of study
Please note: students accepted to the program must also have a current Level C CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) course.
Supplementary Information
Applicants are required to complete:
- School of Dental Hygiene supplementary application form [PDF - 86 kB]
- Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry Immunization/CPR Record [PDF- 110 kB] as a condition of acceptance to the program.
- Please review the Faculty of Dentistry Immunization Procedure for Applicants [PDF- 162 kB].
The Faculty of Dentistry will consider applications to the Diploma in Dental Hygiene (DDH) program from individuals who have received their former education outside the Canadian educational system. These applicants to the DDH program will be required to fulfill specific criteria:
- If the applicant’s first language is not English, they must complete an English language proficiency test, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a minimum score of 580, computer-based score of 237, or iBT score of 90 (students must achieve 4.0 on the essay or TOEFL writing test); or IELTS score of 6.5; or MELAB score of 81; or CAEL score of 70; or CanTest score of 4.5.
- Original supporting documents from previously completed education must be provided, including class descriptions, an explanation of the grading system used, and class standings. If this documentation does not clearly indicate completion of the prerequisite classes at a competitive level, the applicant must complete one year of prerequisite university study in North America.
- International applicants must provide a course-by-course World Education Services (WES) evaluation report (document-by-document evaluation will not be considered).
Applicants should be aware that the DDH program has limited enrolment. Since the number of qualified applicants can exceed the number of places available, fulfilment of the minimum requirements is not a guarantee of admission. The Faculty reserves the right of selection of all students for admission to the program.
Financial information
At Dalhousie, we want our students to focus on their studies, rather than worry about their personal finances. We offer competitive tuition rates and funding programs to support graduate students in almost all of our degree programs.
Program options
All graduate programs at Dalhousie are collaboratively delivered by a home Faculty and the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
