NBDHE: the national board every dental hygienist sits

The National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, written by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations — what it is made of, how it is scored, and what an RDHPass module would have to reproduce before we would charge anyone for it.

Who sits this exam

Dental hygiene candidates anywhere in the United States. Nearly every state accepts the NBDHE as the written half of licensure, so it is sat once and used everywhere — including in Florida, alongside the state's own laws-and-rules paper, which is a different exam with a different bank.

Format

One long day at a test center, in English, in two components with a scheduled break between them. Every figure below was read in the JCNDE's own candidate guide, and the row says which page it came from.

Verified exam facts, each with the official page it was read from.
Fact	What it says	Source
Questions	350 multiple-choice items in two components: 200 discipline-based and 150 case-based, with some experimental items that are not scored	JCNDE · NBDHE 2026 Candidate Guide
Time	One day of about nine hours, including the optional tutorial, the scheduled break and the post-examination survey	JCNDE · National Board Dental Hygiene Examination
Delivery	Computer-based, in English, at a test center	JCNDE · National Board Dental Hygiene Examination

What is on it

The first component asks about one discipline at a time. The second gives you a patient — a history, charts, radiographs, photographs — and asks a run of interdisciplinary questions about that one person. It is the case format, and it is the reason this module needs engine work and not only authoring.

Verified exam facts, each with the official page it was read from.
Fact	What it says	Source
Discipline-based component	200 items: 61 on the scientific basis for dental hygiene practice, 115 on the provision of clinical dental hygiene services, and 24 on community health and research principles, in two blocks with an optional break between them	JCNDE · NBDHE 2026 Candidate Guide
Case-based component	150 items built on 12 to 15 dental hygiene patient cases — adult, child, geriatric, adult-periodontal, paediatric, special-needs and medically-compromised — each presented as a patient history with dental charts, radiographs and clinical photographs	JCNDE · NBDHE 2026 Candidate Guide
Specifications under revision	The JCNDE anticipates updates to the NBDHE test specifications in October 2026; candidates prepare against the specifications in force on their own administration date	JCNDE · NBDHE 2026 Candidate Guide

How it is scored

Pass or fail is the result you receive. A scale score decides it, and subarea scores come with the report so you can see where you were weak — they do not change the verdict.

Verified exam facts, each with the official page it was read from.
Fact	What it says	Source
Scoring	Reported pass/fail. Underneath, a scale score from 49 to 99 is compared with the standard, and 75 is the minimum passing score. There is no penalty for guessing	JCNDE · NBDHE 2026 Candidate Guide

Register and pay

Registration is with the JCNDE and is independent of RDHPass. Fees, eligibility and rescheduling rules are all in the candidate guide linked in the sources below; check them there rather than here, because they are re-issued every year.

Verified exam facts, each with the official page it was read from.
Fact	What it says	Source
Exam fee	$600, plus a $435 processing fee for candidates from programs not accredited by CODA	JCNDE · NBDHE 2026 Candidate Guide
Where to register	With the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations, at jcnde.ada.org	JCNDE · National Board Dental Hygiene Examination

What an RDHPass module would have to do

We will not open a module we cannot simulate honestly. This is the list we hold ourselves to, written down before the module exists so it can be checked against what ships.

Patient cases with a shared stimulus and a run of items hanging off it, sat under one clock — the engine work, not the writing.
Two sessions with their own clocks and their own item counts, so a practice paper feels the length the real one is.
Our own case media. The radiographs, charts and photographs in the real examination are copyrighted examination material; we author ours and say so on every case.
A blueprint versioned per administration window, because the specifications are under revision and a candidate must study the ones in force on their own date.
A bank deep enough that two mocks never draw the same items — the same gate the Florida modules had to clear before they opened.

Official sources

Facts verified September 6, 2026 on the official pages linked above.

Coming soon

This module is not built yet

The guide above is finished and every number in it was read on the examiner's own page — the module is not. Leave your address and we will write once, the day it opens. Which module we build next is decided by how many people ask for it here.

The other exams we cover

RDHPass is an independent study tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Florida Board of Dentistry, the Florida Department of Health, ADEX (formerly CDCA-WREB-CITA) or the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations, and it does not give legal advice. Requirements change — always confirm them on the official sites.