Prepare for a rewarding career in a fast-growing, high-demand field by earning a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (B.S.D.H.) degree at the Indiana University School of Dentistry. Upon graduation, you will be eligible to take the national and state licensing exams required to become a licensed dental hygienist—a valued member of the oral health care team who cares for and educates patients in a variety of settings, including private dental practices, hospitals, public health agencies, and community health organizations.
Find out what it’s like to be a student hereBecome a licensed dental hygienist
Contact us
Division of Allied Health1121 W. Michigan Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
- Phone: 317-274-7801
- Fax: 317-274-1363
- Email: dnthyg@iu.edu
Degree requirements
Curriculum
The School of Dentistry’s B.S.D.H. program is a full-time program that can be completed in three and a half years. It requires the completion of 120 credit hours, including:
- 30 credit hours of prerequisite coursework (must be completed before admission to the program)
- 65 credit hours of professional coursework (core curriculum)
- 20 credit hours of coursework in one of two specialized tracks: health care administration or public health dental hygiene
Study dental hygiene at IU Fort Wayne
The School of Dentistry also offers a B.S.D.H. program at IU’s Fort Wayne campus.
Learn about the IU Fort Wayne programSpecialized Tracks
Dental Hygiene students may choose one of two specialized tracks: health care administration or public health dental hygiene. You can learn more from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health about the healthcare administration track and hear from students about why they chose the track.
Learn more about the healthcare administration track
You can use the iGPS tool to explore the degree map for each of the B.S.D.H. tracks:
Competencies
When you graduate from the School of Dentistry’s dental hygiene program, you will be prepared to:
- Apply a professional code of ethics in all endeavors
- Adhere to state and federal laws, recommendations, regulations, and safety practices in the provision of dental hygiene care
- Provide dental hygiene care to promote patient/client health and wellness using critical thinking and problem solving in the provision of evidenced-based practice
- Assume responsibility for dental hygiene actions and care based on accepted scientific theories and research as well as the accepted standard of care
- Continuously perform self-assessment for lifelong learning and professional growth
- Advance the profession through service activities and affiliations with professional organizations
- Provide quality assurance mechanisms for health services
- Communicate effectively with individuals and groups from diverse populations both orally and in writing
- Provide accurate, consistent, and complete documentation for assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation of dental hygiene services
- Provide care to all clients using an individualized approach that is humane, empathetic, and caring
- Provide planned educational services using appropriate interpersonal communication skills and educational strategies to promote optimal oral health
- Initiate and assume responsibility for health promotion, health education, and disease prevention activities for diverse populations
- Systematically collect, analyze, and record data on the general, oral, and psychosocial health status of a variety of patients/clients using methods consistent with medico-legal principles
- Use critical decision-making skills to reach conclusions about the patients’/clients’ dental hygiene needs based on all available assessment data
- Collaborate with the patient/client and/or other health professionals to formulate a comprehensive dental hygiene care plan that is patient/client centered and based on current scientific evidence
- Provide specialized treatment that includes preventive and therapeutic services designed to achieve and maintain oral health
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented clinical, preventive, and educational services and modify as needed
Admission requirements
To be eligible to apply to the B.S.D.H. program, you must meet certain admission requirements, which include a cumulative college GPA of at least 2.7 (on a 4.0 scale), a science GPA of 3.0, and the completion of all prerequisite coursework. You must complete your prerequisite coursework at IUPUI or another college or university; there is no direct admission to the program for high school students.
Learn more about admission requirementsHow to apply
You must be admitted to IUPUI before you can apply to the B.S.D.H. program. If you are not a current IUPUI student, you will apply for admission to IUPUI through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
After you have been admitted to IUPUI, you will apply to the B.S.D.H. program through the American Dental Education Association’s Dental Hygiene Centralized Application Service (DHCAS).
Learn more about the application processCosts
Your tuition and fee costs will depend on your residency classification (whether you’re considered an in-state or out-of-state student) and the number of credit hours you take each semester. You can use IUPUI’s tuition and fee estimator as a starting point for figuring out what your costs will be.
However, keep in mind that there are additional program and clinical fees for dental hygiene students that may not be included in the estimate. You can search IUPUI’s master fee list to find out what fees you’ll have to pay as a dental hygiene student.
Learn more about costsFinancial aid
As a dental hygiene student, you have a number of financial aid options, including scholarships, grants, loans, and Federal Work-Study awards.
Learn more about financial aid