Dental Hygienist FAQs

Students MUST be a Current Student (applied and accepted to SCTCC).

All prerequisite courses MUST be complete prior to applying to the program with a minimum GPA of 3.5 earned in these courses.

Each prerequisite and General Education course may be taken 3 times.

Consult with an advisor about the impact of repeated courses.

ATDH Exam score (effective for Fall 2025 program start date).

The Dental Hygienist program is a 4-semester program that begins each Fall semester.

16 students are accepted each fall semester.

The Dental Hygienist program is a full-time program only.

Once accepted to the program, classes are all held on-campus or at Clinical sites.

The Dental Hygienist application window is open December 1st through January 15th.

Dates are estimated and subject to change. Review Dental Hygiene page for updates.

First year classes (semester 1 & 2) are held Mon-Friday from 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM

(8 hours a week in lab, 12 hours of lecture/didactic and additional open lab practice sessions).

• Study time and practice time is roughly double time spent in classes.
• The focus is on learning dental hygiene theory, terminology and basic clinic skills.
• Students will start seeing dental patients in spring of second semester.

Second year classes (semester 3 & 4) are 4-5 days per week depending on the semester.

• Majority of hours per week in the dental clinic with patients (12 hours per week).
• Lecture and lab hours amount to 10-12 hours per week.
• Additional time is spent on skills and practicing with instruments and equipment to increase experience and competency.
• Spring (semester 4) includes off campus activities at various community dental health sites providing oral hygiene instruction to underserved populations in the community.

The St. Cloud Technical and Community College (SCTCC) Dental Hygienist program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

St. Cloud Technical & Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

The Admission Test for Dental Hygiene is a nationally administered standardized admission test for individuals applying to dental hygiene programs. It is administered to understand the skill levels of applicants and used to assist with admissions decisions. The ATDH is composed of multiple-choice test questions (items) presented in the English language. The examination consists of six sections: Reading Comprehension, Language Usage, Quantitative Reasoning, Perceptual Ability, Biology, and General Chemistry. 

ATDH scores range from 200 to 500 and are reported in 10-point increments. There is not an official passing score for this examination.  

Candidates interested in preparing for the ATDH may download the ATDH practice questions (PDF) available at www.ada.org/atdh . The intent of the practice questions is to help candidates understand the types of questions that will be asked on the ATDH.

No, the ATDH is not an adaptive examination. Questions will not increase or decrease in difficulty based on whether questions are answered correctly.  

The ATDH contains 240 questions and requires 4 hours and 50 minutes to administer.

Yes! Candidates are required to wait 60 days between testing attempts on the ATDH. Candidates who have had three or more ATDH attempts must apply to the ATDH Program for permission to test again. After a candidate’s third attempt, the following applies:

• The candidate may retest only once per 12-month period.
• Any request to test must be submitted to DTS in writing
• Such requests must include evidence demonstrating the candidate’s intent to apply to a dental hygiene education program.