Pennsylvania dental CE requirements
Continuing education for license renewal in Pennsylvania, by role. Confirm current rules with the board before you rely on them.
Dental hygienist
20 hours / 2 years (Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioner also 20 hrs, of which 5 must be public-health related)
Role pageDental assistant
Expanded Function Dental Assistants (EFDAs): 10 hours / 2 years (of which 3 hours must be in coronal polishing, with limited exemptions). Non-EFDA dental assistants are not separately licensed and have no state CE requirement.
Role pageRenewal cycle & mandatory topics
Biennial cycle renewing Apr 1 of every odd-numbered year (State Board of Dentistry). MANDATORY for dentists, hygienists, and EFDAs: 2 hours of approved child abuse recognition and reporting in the 2-year period preceding renewal (Act 31), and current CPR certification as a condition of renewal. Prescribers of opioids/controlled substances must complete 2 hours of approved education in pain management, identification of addiction, or safe prescribing (Act 124) — required of DEA-registered dentists. Hygienists with a local-anesthesia permit: 3 of the 20 hours in local anesthesia administration. LIVE-vs-SELF-STUDY caps: individual/self-study capped at half the total — dentists max 15 hrs, hygienists max 10 hrs, EFDAs max 5 hrs. NOTE: the PA 'Dental Renewal Guide' PDF returned conflicting figures (30 hrs hygienist / 18 hrs EFDA); the binding regulation 49 Pa. Code §33.402 governs and states 20 (hygienist) and 10 (EFDA).
Open the renewal-focused CE pageOpen the CPR/BLS pageOfficial source
Pennsylvania board CE page →Track your hours
Prefilled to Pennsylvania — pick your role and enter hours completed.
Dentist requirement — Pennsylvania
30 hours / 2 years (biennial)
30 hours to go
0 of 30 toward this cycle (best-effort parse — confirm exact rules with the board).
Cycle & mandatory topics
Biennial cycle renewing Apr 1 of every odd-numbered year (State Board of Dentistry). MANDATORY for dentists, hygienists, and EFDAs: 2 hours of approved child abuse recognition and reporting in the 2-year period preceding renewal (Act 31), and current CPR certification as a condition of renewal. Prescribers of opioids/controlled substances must complete 2 hours of approved education in pain management, identification of addiction, or safe prescribing (Act 124) — required of DEA-registered dentists. Hygienists with a local-anesthesia permit: 3 of the 20 hours in local anesthesia administration. LIVE-vs-SELF-STUDY caps: individual/self-study capped at half the total — dentists max 15 hrs, hygienists max 10 hrs, EFDAs max 5 hrs. NOTE: the PA 'Dental Renewal Guide' PDF returned conflicting figures (30 hrs hygienist / 18 hrs EFDA); the binding regulation 49 Pa. Code §33.402 governs and states 20 (hygienist) and 10 (EFDA).
References
- https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F049%2Fchapter33%2Fs33.402.html&d=reduce
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/pennsylvania/49-Pa-Code-SS-33-402
- https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/dos/department-and-offices/bpoa/dental/Dental-Renewal-Guide.pdf