Health Sciences Admissions

Dental Hygiene Admissions

Program updates

The Fall 2023 program application window is closed. Please allow four to six weeks for all program applications to be reviewed and ranked. Before admissions decisions are emailed, you have the option of scheduling a virtual appointment for points review. Once the points review appointments conclude, admissions notices will be emailed to your Wake Tech email account.

The Fall 2024 Dental Hygiene program application window opens August 1.

Check out the new Dental Hygiene program video and the updated Dental Hygiene admission packet. 

The Dental Hygiene program provides students with the knowledge and skills to assess, plan, implement and evaluate dental hygiene care for the individual and the community. Students will learn to prepare the operatory, take patient histories, note abnormalities, plan care, teach oral hygiene, clean teeth, take X-rays, apply preventive agents, complete necessary chart entries and perform other procedures related to dental hygiene care.

Program graduates may be eligible to take national and state/regional examinations for licensure, which are required to practice dental hygiene. Employment opportunities include dental offices, clinics, schools, public health agencies, industry and professional education.

The Dental Hygiene program is a limited-enrollment program accepting approximately 24 students once a year. The acceptance rate can vary based on clinical space availability. Because we receive more than 100 applications for every application cycle, we use a competitive, point-based admission process, not a waiting list. Points are assigned based on the grades earned in the eight general education classes required for the program, such as ENG 111, PSY 150 and BIO 163. The better the grade, the more points a student will be awarded. Still, there is no guarantee of acceptance into the program, even if you have straight A's in all eight general education classes.

Anyone interested in the Dental Hygiene program must first attend a mandatory information session. Advisors will not meet with students until after the information session has been completed. Because the Dental Hygiene program is very competitive, we strongly recommend meeting with a Health Sciences admissions/academic advisor to discuss an academic plan.

Health Sciences Advising
[email protected]

Admissions questions
919-866-5420
[email protected]
Dental Hygiene program checklist

Ready to get started at Wake Tech? Follow these steps to begin:

The following are requirements for the Dental Hygiene program selection process:

  • Meet minimum admission requirements, which includes completion of ENG 111 and CHM 130 (or equivalent)
  • Complete 20 hours of job shadowing and verify that on the Dental Hygiene Job Shadowing form. Job shadowing hours need to be unpaid, so if you are working at a dental office, we suggest you shadow at a different office.
  • Submit the Dental Hygiene program application and all supporting documentation to [email protected] between August 1 and January 31.

As noted, acceptance into the Dental Hygiene program is highly competitive, so applying to the program does not guarantee acceptance. Once accepted into the program, students are required to attend a departmental orientation and complete all clinical site requirements. 

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