Dental Hygiene Students Achieve 100-Percent Pass Rate on Boards

All 23 students from the 2003 Dental Hygiene program graduating class at Pennsylvania College of Technology have passed their National Board Dental Hygiene Examination.

The written exam assists state boards in determining the qualifications of those seeking licensure to practice as dental hygienists. It evaluates students? ability to understand and apply vital information from basic biomedical, dental and dental-hygiene sciences, said Shawn A. Kiser, coordinator of the Dental Hygiene program at the College.

"We had a 100-percent pass rate this year," Kiser noted. "The students work very hard when they are in the Dental Hygiene program. Our curriculum is quite rigorous. We are fortunate to have exceptional faculty and staff that dedicate themselves to student learning."

To become licensed, students must graduate from an accredited dental-hygiene program, pass the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination and pass the Northeast Regional Board Examination, which evaluates clinical skills. Penn College accepts 36 students into the Dental Hygiene program each year, offering both bachelor- and associate-degree majors.

According to Kiser, the job outlook continues to be excellent for dental hygienists. Locally, graduates are earning between $18 and $20 per hour. The latest survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that dental hygienists nationwide earn an average of $48,150 annually, depending upon geographical location and the type of offices (pediatrics, hospital settings, etc.) in which they are employed.

For more information about Penn College's Dental Hygiene program, call (570) 327-4500, send e-mail or visit on the Web.