To become a dental hygienist in Florida, you need to graduate from an accredited dental hygiene program, pass three examinations, and get licensed by the Florida Department of Health through the Board of Dentistry. The Board sets the standards under Florida Statutes Chapters 466 and 456.1Florida Board of Dentistry. Florida Board of Dentistry – Laws and Rules The whole path, from starting school to holding a license in hand, is straightforward if you take it in order.
Finish an Accredited Dental Hygiene Program
Before you can sit for any licensure exam, you must be at least 18 and hold a degree from a dental hygiene program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) or another accrediting body the U.S. Department of Education recognizes. The coursework has to be comparable to an associate in science degree.2Online Sunshine. Florida Code 466.007 – Examination of Dental Hygienists Graduates of accredited dental schools can also qualify by meeting additional transcript and clinical requirements.
You cannot have been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor related to health care practice, and you will need to be certified by the ADA Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations before your application goes in.2Online Sunshine. Florida Code 466.007 – Examination of Dental Hygienists
Pass the Three Required Exams
Florida requires three separate examinations. Two are national, one is state-specific.
- The National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) is a written exam covering biomedical sciences and clinical dental hygiene, administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.3Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. National Board Dental Hygiene Examination
- The ADEX Dental Hygiene Examination is a clinical exam of hands-on patient care skills. Florida accepts a passing ADEX score from any jurisdiction as long as you took the exam on or after June 1, 2010.4Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 64B5-2.0135 – Dental Hygiene Examination
- The Florida Laws and Rules Examination is a written test on the state statutes and administrative rules that govern dental hygiene practice.
Apply to the Florida Board of Dentistry
The application goes through the Department of Health’s online portal. The nonrefundable application fee is capped at $100 and the examination fee at $225. If you turn out to be ineligible to test, the examination fee may be refunded.2Online Sunshine. Florida Code 466.007 – Examination of Dental Hygienists
Along with your application, you submit two recent photographs and your exam scores. Your school sends official transcripts directly to the Board, showing your graduation date and degree. If you hold professional licenses in other states, the Board will verify those as well.
Background screening is not optional. You complete electronic fingerprinting, and your application will not be approved until that screening clears.
If You’re Already Licensed in Another State
If you hold an active, unencumbered dental hygiene license somewhere else, you may not need to run the full initial-licensure path. The MOBILE endorsement pathway is a shorter route, but only if you meet every one of these conditions:5Florida Board of Dentistry. Dental Hygienist – Florida Board of Dentistry
- You have practiced dental hygiene for at least two of the four years immediately before you apply.
- You have no disciplinary action in the five years before applying, and no pending disciplinary proceeding in any jurisdiction.
- You have not been reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, unless the report was successfully appealed or the underlying conduct would not violate Florida law.
- You have a passing score on a recognized national licensure examination.
You still transfer your Laws and Rules Examination scores and request license verification from every state where you have held a license. The Board accepts online verification if the issuing state provides it with disciplinary history included.
What Your License Lets You Do
Once licensed, you have exclusive authority over certain clinical tasks that no other dental auxiliary can perform: removing calculus, stains, and other deposits from tooth surfaces and from below the gumline, and performing root planing and curettage.6Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 466.023 – Dental Hygienists; Scope and Area of Practice You can also take dental X-rays, apply topical fluoride and other preventive agents, and perform remediable tasks the dentist delegates.
Some activities need no supervision. Oral hygiene instruction, educational programs, fluoride rinse programs, fluoride application, dental charting, and supervising a patient’s oral hygiene care are all yours to do independently, as long as none of it involves diagnosing or treating a dental condition.6Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 466.023 – Dental Hygienists; Scope and Area of Practice Diagnosis, comprehensive examinations, and surgical procedures stay outside a hygienist’s scope entirely.
How much dentist oversight you need depends on the task and the setting. Direct supervision means the dentist is physically present; general supervision means the dentist has authorized the procedure but does not need to be on site. A third category, “health access settings” (nonprofit community health centers, federally qualified health centers, Head Start centers, school-based prevention programs, certain state agency programs, and clinics run by accredited dental or dental hygiene schools), gives hygienists the widest independence.7Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 466 – Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, and Dental Laboratories Root planing and gingival curettage still require dentist supervision regardless of where you are.8Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 466.024 – Delegation of Duties; Expanded Functions
Adding Local Anesthesia Certification
Administering local anesthesia in Florida is a separate credential from your hygiene license, and it is not granted automatically when you’re licensed. To earn the certificate, you complete an approved course with at least 30 hours of classroom instruction and 30 hours of clinical experience covering pharmacology of anesthetics, injection techniques for the upper and lower jaw, infection control, and emergency management.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 466.017 – Administration of Local Anesthesia The course must come from a CODA-accredited dental or dental hygiene program, or another program the Board has approved.
With the certificate, you can administer intraoral block anesthesia, soft tissue infiltration anesthesia, or both, but only under a dentist’s direct supervision. The patient must be nonsedated and at least 18. Patients under general anesthesia, deep sedation, moderate sedation, or pediatric moderate sedation are off-limits.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 466.017 – Administration of Local Anesthesia You must also hold current basic or advanced cardiac life support certification.
The one-time application fee is capped at $35. The certificate does not need renewal, but it becomes part of your permanent licensing record, and you must display it in every location where you administer anesthesia.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code 466.017 – Administration of Local Anesthesia
Keeping Your License Active
Florida dental hygiene licenses renew every two years. The current renewal deadline is February 28, 2028, and the active renewal fee is $80.10Florida Board of Dentistry. Dental Hygienist Renewal – Florida Board of Dentistry Each two-year cycle, you complete 24 hours of continuing education relevant to clinical dental hygiene, with a few specific components required within that total:11Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 64B5-12.013 – Continuing Education
- A Board-approved two-hour medical errors prevention course every renewal period.
- A Board-approved two-hour domestic violence course every third renewal period.12Online Sunshine. Florida Code 456.031 – Requirement for Instruction on Domestic Violence
- A two-hour HIV/AIDS course required no later than your first renewal.
- Current basic life support certification covering adult, child, and infant CPR, foreign body airway obstruction relief, and AED use, with an in-person hands-on component. Fully online CPR courses aren’t accepted, and CPR hours don’t count toward the 24-hour total.11Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 64B5-12.013 – Continuing Education
If you let your license lapse, it goes delinquent for the next cycle, and if you don’t act during that cycle it becomes null. A null license cannot be reactivated; you would start over with all initial-licensure requirements, including the examinations.13Online Sunshine. Florida Code 456.036 – License Status Renewing on time is by far the cheaper path.