Prerequisites
Due to a need for a technical and science foundation for dental hygienists, a special admission procedure has been instituted for the Dental Hygiene Program. Applicants for the Dental Hygiene program must be proficient in several subject areas. Prerequisites include courses in life sciences, reading and composition, speech and oral communication, psychology, sociology and college level math.
Important: It is the policy of our accrediting institutions to require all prerequisite course work be completed and recency requirements met and proof of such received by the application deadline. “In Progress” work is NOT accepted.
Prior to applying to the Dental Hygiene program, students must have completed the following prerequisite courses:
| Course | Units |
|---|---|
| BIOL 260 - Human Anatomy | 4 |
| BIOL 261 - Principles of Human Physiology | 4 |
| BIOL 265 - General Microbiology | 4 |
| CHEM 100 - Introduction to General Chemistry or CHEM 170 - Preparation for General Chemistry |
4 |
| CHEM 102 - General, Organic and Biological Chemistry or CHEM 110 - Elementary Organic and Biological Chemistry |
5 |
| HLTH 204 - Fundamentals of Nutrition | 3 |
| COMM 103 - Oral Communication or COMM 104 - Public Speaking |
3 |
| PSYC 101 - General Psychology | 3 |
| SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology or SOC 110 - Contemporary Social Problems |
3 |
| ENGL 115 - Reading Composition: Exposition and Argumentation | 4 |
| Math 119 or PSYC/SOC 270 | 4 |
The following criteria must be met for ALL COURSES before submitting an application:
- A cumulative grade point average of 2.75 or higher for all DH prerequisites. (Five science and six non-science cumulative GPA's will be calculated separately).
- Science Courses must be a minimum of 4 semester units each resulting in a 2.75 GPA grade or better.
- UPDATE: Science courses must have a recency of seven years.
UPDATE: Dental Hygiene Wet Lab Admission Standard - Waiver Extension
On July 13, 2020, the Director of the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) issued an Order Waiving Wet Laboratory Admission Standard for Dental Hygiene Educational Programs. Several extensions to this waiver have been issued since that time. The current expired on December 31, 2021.
The Executive Director of the DCA hereby further extends the Order Waiving Wet Laboratory Admission Standard for Dental Hygiene Educational Programs to March 31, 2022. This order is effective immediately but may be amended as circumstances require.
For Spring, Summer, Fall 2020 and Spring, Summer, Fall2021 as well as Spring 2022, semester/quarter biomedical science prerequisite coursework completed via online or other non-wet lab methods will be accepted for entry into the dental hygiene programs.
The full waiver is posted on the DCA Waivers page:
DCA Waiver DCA-22-210: Waiving Wet Laboratory Admission Standard for Dental Hygiene
Educational Programs
Additional Prerequisites
Students must demonstrate requisite math proficiency by means of one of the following:
- earn a “C" or better in Math 119 or PSYC/SOC 270 or more advanced course with equivalent content; no support courses
- a transcript indicating an earned associate or higher degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college/university and completion of a Math course with equivalent or more advanced content, indicating a grade of “C” or better.
UPATE (04/2022): AP scores will not be accepted for any Dental Hygiene prerequisites except for Math and English. If students have AP credit for Psych - it cannot be accepted. Students must have a college course on record with a grade of "C" or higher posted on a transcript.