Dental Hygienist

For Nichole Hopkins, scraping troublesome plaque and tartar off of the teeth of Douglas County residents has been like a dream come true.

All 27 of the most recent graduates of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dental hygiene major passed the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination.

The purpose of the Dental Hygiene Examination is to assist state boards in determining qualifications of dental hygienists who seek licensure to practice. The exam assesses the ability to understand important information from basic biomedical and dental/dental hygiene sciences and the ability to apply such information in a problem-solving context.

Penn College offers an associate degree in dental hygiene as well as bachelor’s degrees in dental hygiene with the option to concentrate in health policy and administration or special populations. Professionals who have already earned associate degrees may complete their studies toward a bachelor’s degree online.

In addition to its 100-percent pass rate, the May graduates also helped to mark the 30th anniversary of the program’s first graduating class in 1979. The anniversary was celebrated on campus May 29 with a reunion for all dental hygiene alumni.

In three decades, 939 bachelor’s and associate degrees were awarded to 774 graduates. More than 130 alumni – representing nearly every class year – attended the daylong observance, which included continuing education, lunch, and a dessert reception for reminiscence with former classmates and college President Davie Jane Gilmour – the dental hygiene program’s first faculty member – as well as a Hiawatha riverboat cruise.