Upcoming Dental Hygiene Events
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Sep
23
2025
6:00PM Virtual Event
Attending an information session is mandatory before applying to the DHY program. This ZOOM session...
Dental Hygiene
Brighten smiles as you transform your future. Dental hygiene combines your aptitude for science, dexterous hands, empathetic nature, and passion for helping into a highly respected and rewarding career.
Immerse Yourself in Intensive Training
At OCC, you and your classmates progress through dental hygiene courses together, learning in small groups taught by expert instructors who have years of experience in the field. Your hands-on training happens with the latest technology, including a new digital scanner.
Along the way, you participate in rotations at OCC’s community dental clinic, off-campus outreach activities, and professional association events. Instructors and cohorts celebrate achievements together, like the traditional pinning ceremony and the Golden Scalar Award for the most development and progress throughout the program.
A Career with Endless Possibilities
As a registered dental hygienist, you can work in a solo, group, or corporate dental practice. Opportunities are also available in long-term care facilities, school systems, dental supply companies, educational institutions, and public health organizations.
New Health Science Building, Opening in 2027
In 2027, the health sciences programs will move to the new state-of-the-art Health Sciences building on our Orchard Ridge Campus. Here, you will meet and work with expert caring faculty, staff, and students in all the healthcare disciplines – just as you’ll experience in the field.
Check out the New FacilitiesIs Dental Hygiene Right for Me?
The Dental Hygiene program at OCC is a very fast paced and demanding program. To be successful, you must be willing and able to devote at least two hours per week for each credit hour of class for which you are enrolled. For example, 12 credit hours will require 24 hours of study per week.
In addition, you are also expected to:
- Complete a course in basic life support appropriate for health care providers.
- Be up to date on all vaccinations, including TDaP, MMR, polio, chicken pox (varicella), COVID, and influenza.
- Comply with the background check, drug screen, and fingerprinting required by state law.
- Pay additional program costs including an instrument kit, textbooks, scrubs/lab coats, licensing exam fees, etc.
All Smiles in OCC’s Dental Hygiene Program
Oakland Community College Dental Hygiene student Viki Ulic of Swartz Creek, Michigan, knows firsthand the exhilaration in having your braces removed. Her personal experience inspired her to pursue her degree. “The confidence I got after that was amazing,” she says, smiling wide. “I want to help others feel like that.”
What You Need to Be Successful in the Dental Hygiene Program
OCC dental hygiene students are expected to meet our technical standards:
- Observation: Ability to participate in all classrooms, lab, and clinical experiences in the professional program
- Communication: Ability to communicate effectively using verbal, non-verbal, and written formats with faculty, patients, students, and other health care professionals
- Motor: Sufficient motor ability to execute the technique, movement, and skills required for safe and effective care of the public
- Intellectual: Ability to collect, assess, interpret and synthesize information and making evidence-based decisions about the care of the patient
- Professional behavior: Possess the attributes of accountability, mental and emotional integrity, adaptability, compassionate, cultural competence, and critical thinking and problem-solving skills in all academic and patient care experiences.
Are You Ready? We Want to Meet You
This program actively accepts new students. We admit 30 students into each cohort. Cohorts begin once per year, every fall semester.
The dental hygiene coursework is very rigorous, and you must take clinical courses
in the progression outlined in the program plan. This typically requires about 48
hours per week over five semesters in the program.
Dental hygiene classes meet in-person at the Highland Lakes campus in Waterford. In fall of 2027 our Health Sciences programs will be moving to the
Orchard Ridge campus. Learn more about our new location.
OCC’s Dental Hygiene program is dedicated to providing a student-centered learning environment focused on preparing students to succeed in the licensed practice of dental hygiene through the development of their cognitive and affective skills.
The instruction includes a robust academic curriculum for Dental Hygiene education that encompasses:
- Clinical competence
- Communication skills
- Professional behaviors
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Professional growth and development
- Evidence-based decision making
The OCC Dental Hygiene program is designed to require students to pass both the Theory and Lab portions of the Dental Hygiene course. The curriculum foundational courses in humanities and sciences with specialized training in dental care. Course titles include:
- Microbiology of Health & Disease
- Dental Anatomy
- Dental Histology & Embryology
- Oral Pathology
- Local Anesthesia
The Dental Hygiene course sequence must be taken in the order found in your program handbook. You must achieve 75% competency/performance level or higher in all semester coursework – theory, laboratory, and clinical – to advance to the next semester.
Begin Your Journey: Attend a Program Info Session
Register now for a required upcoming information session. You will learn about:
- Program requirements
- Theory classes
- Labs
- Clinical phases
- How to succeed
Clinicals at Our Dental Center
You will gain real world experience by working in the OCC dental clinic and a clinical rotation in Pontiac during your second year.
At OCC’s dental clinic you will be evaluated at each session by the clinical faculty. You will be in a group of five students as you work with clinical instructors and supervising dentists. During this three-week assessment period, instruction is tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of your clinical skills.
External Public Health Rotation
In your second year of study, you complete 20-24 hours of public health outreach experience during an off-campus rotation in Pontiac. OCC has affiliation agreements with external organizations that work with diverse populations of patients, including those with special needs and those that are underserved.
Qualify to Take Your Licensing Exams
When you complete the Dental Hygiene program at OCC, you’ll be eligible to sit for the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) Exam and the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) Exam. From there, you can apply for state licensure in Michigan or another state with similar requirements.
You will receive information about the application for Michigan licensure during the
last semester of the program.
Students also are able to take a local anesthesia and nitrous exam to obtain certification.
Employers Know OCC Grads Are Ready to Practice
All that hard work pays off when it’s time to take licensing exams and apply for jobs. In fact, 100% of students in the Spring 2024 graduating cohort passed both the written and clinical board exams – and 100% are working in the dental field.
Apply Your OCC Credits to a Bachelor’s Degree
Interested in advancing to a 4-year college or university to earn a bachelor’s degree? OCC has an agreement with the University of Detroit Mercy that ensures a seamless transfer. You can carry all or most of your OCC credits to other colleges or universities as well.
OCC has an on-campus dental clinic at our Highland Lakes campus
Our clinic provides hands-on experience to our students while providing high-quality, affordable treatment to our community under professional supervision.
Some of our services include:
- Oral examination
- Preventive oral hygiene instruction
- Oral prophylaxis (cleaning)
- Periodontal debridement (deep scaling)
- Topical fluoride
- Radiographs (X-rays)
- Sealants
- Bleaching trays
Looking for more information or scheduled appointment? Learn more about the Dental Clinic.
How to Become a Dental Hygienist at OCC
It takes most students one to two years of prerequisites to prepare to enter the OCC Dental Hygiene program and an additional two years to get through the program. Before successful admission to the program, you must complete course prerequisites and meet all eligibility requirements.
Degree Program
Preparing & Applying for Acceptance
Register for a required information session. Find a session that works best for you.
Selection is determined by the following factors:
- GPA for eight (8) supportive classes calculated and students ranked by GPA
- HESI test with at least 75% pass rate on all sections (actual score used to break GPA ties)
- 10 hours of shadowing at a private practice of your choice
- 5 hours of OCC DHY Clinic shadowing - contact (248) 942-3261 to schedule
Due to licensure requirements, credits earned at other dental hygiene program cannot be transferred to OCC’s program.
A new class of dental hygiene students begins every fall semester, and applications
are due by December 15th of the prior year.
If you’re selected, we’ll notify you by mid-March.
If you’re selected, we’ll notify you by mid-March.
Once you’re selected into the program, the program coordinator will reach out to schedule
a records review.
Other Eligibility Requirements
When you’re admitted into the program, you’ll be required to complete a Basic Life Saving-Health Care Provider Course. Instructions for this will be included in the selection package you’ll receive at your records review.
Dental hygiene students are responsible for extra costs and fees, including pre-admission health examinations, an instrument kit, scrubs and lab coats, professional association membership, licensure applications, and pinning ceremony expenses.
Credentials Received & Accreditation
The Dental Hygiene program at OCC leads to an Associate in Applied Science Degree and is designated as an Extended Degree Program. After completing the program, you’re eligible for:
- National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE)
- American Board of Dental Examiners - The Commission on Dental Competency Assessments (ADEX-CDCA)
- CDCA Local Anesthesia Examination
- CDCA Nitrous Oxide Examination
The OCC Dental Hygiene Program is fully accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association. Issues pertaining to compliance with the standards of the Commission of the ADA
can be addressed to the:
Commission on Dental Accreditation
211 E. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
(800) 232-6108
Download a copy of the standards.
Enroll Now
Begin your studies with these steps:
- Apply to OCC. If you’re not already an OCC student, create a profile and complete our online application.
- On the application, select Dental Hygiene.
- Existing OCC students can update their academic program using the Change of Program Form.
- Register for a required Dental Hygiene program information session.
Contact Information
Program Coordinator
Phone: (248) 942-3148
Program Location
Highland Lakes Campus
7350 Cooley Lake Rd
Waterford, MI 48327-4187
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