Dental Hygiene, AAS

Dental Hygiene Degree

BCCC’s two-year Associate degree program in Dental Hygiene prepares students to work as dental hygienists in private dental offices, hospital clinics, military installations, public schools, industrial clinics, dental auxiliary schools, and public health facilities.

Dental Hygienists educate patients about the importance of proper dental care and the maintenance of good oral health. Working under the general supervision of a licensed dentist, hygienists remove stains and deposits from teeth, take x-rays, apply preventive agents to teeth, provide patient education, preform oral cancer examinations, preform non-surgical periodontal therapy, and take medical and dental histories.

In the final semester of didactic and clinical experience, students become eligible for the National Board Examination and the ADEX Dental Hygiene Examination administered by the Commission on Dental Competency Assessment (CDCA), which are required for licensure. By law, the State Board of Dental Examiners may deny licensure for a variety of reasons. These include conviction of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude if the nature of the offense bears directly on the fitness of the person to practice Dental Hygiene. The BCCC Program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association and is designated a Statewide program by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

Interested applicants must hold a high school diploma or its equivalent. An official transcript of the high school diploma or GED must be sent directly to BCCC from the school and have the school’s seal or original signature. Please see the admission requirements below and visit the Dental Hygiene webpage at www.bccc.edu.

Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 to be considered for admission. Students must take the College ACCUPLACER test. Enrollment is limited by the number of laboratory stations, clinical units, and faculty. Admission is highly competitive.

Due to computerization of the dental clinic, all students must successfully complete the College-required computer literacy test or course before entering the program.

 

Dental Hygiene Selective Admission Criteria and Process

(Effective with the Fall 2017 entering class)

Listed below are the requirements that must be completed by all students seeking admission in the Associate of Applied Science Dental Hygiene Program.

• A completed BCCC College Application must be submitted prior to applying to the program. Prerequisites for admission into the Dental Hygiene Program include the following, which are to be completed prior to the Spring Semester for Fall Pre-Clinical admission.
  1. All developmental coursework (math, reading and writing sequence) with a grade of “C” or better.
  2. Completion of PRE 100 , ENG 101 , BIO 107 , BIO 212 , and CHE 105 .
  3. Overall G.P.A. of 2.5 or greater on a 4.0 scale (Applications will not be ranked if G.P.A is lower than 2.5).
  4. A grade of “C” or better must be achieved in all science courses. Science courses must be completed within five (5) years of admission to the Dental Hygiene Program.
  5. Mandatory Dental Hygiene Information Session Attendance (must be present for mandatory videos).
  6. All applicants must take the current Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) (2 attempt limit). Test scores must not be older than one year.
  7. All applicants must pass the Biology Placement Exam to be exempt from General Biology (BIO 101 ).
  8. All applicants must meet the college’s computer literacy requirement.
  9. All applicants must sign and date the Dental Hygiene Essential Standards.

The Dental Hygiene Program Application will be available on the Dental Hygiene webpage no later than the last Friday in October..

Ranking System for Admission to Dental Hygiene Program

(Based on possible maximum score of 74 points.)

Ranking for entrance into the Fall Dental Hygiene class will be completed following mid semester of the preceding Spring session. Points will be allocated based on the following criteria:

1. Science G.P.A.: (Minimum grade of “C” required in each course)

	3.8 - 4.00	37 points
	3.6 - 3.79	33 points
	3.4 - 3.59	29 points
	3.2 - 3.39	25 points
	3.0 - 3.19	21 points
	2.8 - 2.99	17 points
	2.6 - 2.79	13 points
	2.5 - 2.59	9 points

2. Cumulative G.P.A.:

	3.8 - 4.00	18 points
	3.6 - 3.79	16 points
	3.4 - 3.59	14 points
	3.2 - 3.39	12 points
	3.0 - 3.19	10 points
	2.8 - 2.99	8 points
	2.6 - 2.79	6 points
	2.5 - 2.59	4 points

3. Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)

	Exemplary	4 points
	Advance	3 points
	Proficient	2 points
	Basic	1 points
	Developmental	0 points

4. Completed Courses:
   3 points will be deducted for each of the following courses not completed prior to admission.
   3 point will be added for each of the following courses completed prior to admission.
   • DNT 200 Nutrition for Health Sciences
   • PSY 101 - Introductory Psychology
       
   • MAT 107 - Modern Elementary Statistics
       
   • SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology
       
   • SPE 101 - Fundamentals of Speech Communication
       
5. Ranked Application from Previous Year: 10 points
   Note: All courses in the program sequence must be completed at a grade of C or higher. D and/or F grades are not accepted.
   Note 2: BCCC reserves the right to modify the above regulations/requirements and point designations at anytime in the student’s enrollment. The outlined point system should not be deemed an irrevocable contract between Pre-Dental Hygiene Students and Baltimore City Community College.

BCCC Dental Hygiene Applicants

• Applicants not admitted to the program who wish to be considered the following year must re-apply.
• Applications will be ranked according to the procedures above to determine their total points.
• Students with the highest total points will be accepted for the 20 seats in ranked order. In case of applicants with the same number of total points, the applicant who has submitted her/his application first will get the first consideration.
• Applications with requirements completed by the Fall deadline will be ranked first. Other applications may be considered for admissions if requirements will be completed by Spring (based on seat availability).

NOTE: To be considered, application must be received by the deadline date and time. Notification letters will be mailed in early May. Applicants will have five days to formally declare their acceptance to the program, no exceptions. If you do not meet the minimum requirements, were not accepted or you declined your admission, you must submit a new application if you wish to be considered for the next year. You must also attend another Mandatory Dental Hygiene Program Information Session.

Suggested Sequence of Courses

** All BCCC students must meet the College’s Computer Literacy requirements in order to receive a degree or a certificate. All first-time, full- and part-time degree and certificate seeking students are required to complete the PRE 100  course within the first six credits.