# Pennsylvania dental license renewal > Renewal CE summary, official board source, and filing checklist for dental professionals renewing in Pennsylvania. URL: https://dentovio.com/dental-license-renewal/pennsylvania Last verified: 2026-07-08 Research confidence: high Educational summary only, not compliance advice. Renewal dates, filing windows, fees, approved-provider rules, audit rules, and mandatory topics can change. Confirm current instructions with the Pennsylvania dental board before filing a renewal. ## Direct answer For dental license renewal in Pennsylvania, use the official board for filing forms, fees, deadlines, and final instructions. Dentovio summarizes the renewal CE signals: dentists need 30 hours / 2 years (biennial); dental hygienists need 20 hours / 2 years (Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioner also 20 hrs, of which 5 must be public-health related); dental assistants: 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.. Renewal-cycle notes: 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). ## Renewal CE snapshot - Dentists: 30 hours / 2 years (biennial) - Dental hygienists: 20 hours / 2 years (Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioner also 20 hrs, of which 5 must be public-health related) - Dental assistants: 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. ## Renewal cycle and mandatory-topic notes 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). ## Before filing - Open the official board source and confirm the current filing window, fee, form, and renewal status. - Confirm required CE hours, mandatory topics, approved-provider rules, and live/self-study limits. - Keep completion certificates and audit documentation for the retention period stated by the board. - Use Dentovio's CE tracker as a planning aid, not as a board filing system. ## Official board source - ## References - - - - ## Related - [Pennsylvania dental CE requirements](https://dentovio.com/ce-requirements/pennsylvania/index.html.md) - [Pennsylvania dental CPR/BLS requirements](https://dentovio.com/dental-cpr-requirements/pennsylvania/index.html.md) - [Pennsylvania online dental CE](https://dentovio.com/online-dental-ce/pennsylvania/index.html.md) - [Pennsylvania dental license lookup](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-lookup/pennsylvania/index.html.md) - [Pennsylvania dental renewal CE page](https://dentovio.com/ce-requirements/pennsylvania/license-renewal/index.html.md) - [Pennsylvania dental board](https://dentovio.com/dental-boards/pennsylvania/index.html.md) - [All dental license renewal pages](https://dentovio.com/dental-license-renewal/index.html.md) - [Dental CE hours tracker](https://dentovio.com/tools/ce-tracker/index.html.md)