Dental hygienist CE snapshot
6 hours / year (annual; ~12 per 2 years)
Last verified 2026-07-08. Research confidence: medium.
Role-specific online CE
North Carolina dental hygienist online dental CE
Dental hygienists in North Carolina: 6 hours / year (annual; ~12 per 2 years). Online/live-course signal from Dentovio's sourced CE notes: 0102 ALL 6 hrs may be self-study if a post-course test and certificate are obtained, and courses must relate to clinical patient care from a Board-approved sponsor; current CPR certification required IN ADDITION to the 6 hrs (CPR hours do NOT count toward the 6). Dentists: 15 hrs/year (secondary sources indicate at least ~8 must be live/interactive and cite a ~1 hr jurisprudence and opioid-prescribing component for DEA registrants). Dentist-specific self-study cap and mandatory-topic detail are set in dentist rule 21 NCAC 16B . Confirm the current dental hygienist live, webinar, correspondence, home-study, self-study, provider, and audit rules with the North Carolina dental board before enrolling.
Online and live-course signal
0102 ALL 6 hrs may be self-study if a post-course test and certificate are obtained, and courses must relate to clinical patient care from a Board-approved sponsor; current CPR certification required IN ADDITION to the 6 hrs (CPR hours do NOT count toward the 6). Dentists: 15 hrs/year (secondary sources indicate at least ~8 must be live/interactive and cite a ~1 hr jurisprudence and opioid-prescribing component for DEA registrants). Dentist-specific self-study cap and mandatory-topic detail are set in dentist rule 21 NCAC 16B .
Before choosing a course
- Verify whether live webinar hours count differently from self-paced online CE.
- Check caps for correspondence, home-study, self-study, or asynchronous formats.
- Confirm provider approval for your role before enrolling.
- Keep completion certificates and audit records in the board-required format.
Related online CE roles
Source language to review
- 0102 ALL 6 hrs may be self-study if a post-course test and certificate are obtained, and courses must relate to clinical patient care from a Board-approved sponsor; current CPR certification required IN ADDITION to the 6 hrs (CPR hours do NOT count toward the 6).
- Dentists: 15 hrs/year (secondary sources indicate at least ~8 must be live/interactive and cite a ~1 hr jurisprudence and opioid-prescribing component for DEA registrants).
- Dentist-specific self-study cap and mandatory-topic detail are set in dentist rule 21 NCAC 16B .
Full renewal-cycle note
Annual renewal (license year ends March 31; CE measured per calendar year). Hygienists: 6 clock hrs/year; per rule 21 NCAC 16I .0102 ALL 6 hrs may be self-study if a post-course test and certificate are obtained, and courses must relate to clinical patient care from a Board-approved sponsor; current CPR certification required IN ADDITION to the 6 hrs (CPR hours do NOT count toward the 6). Hygienists administering local anesthetics: maintain CPR plus 2 hrs/year covering local-anesthetic technique, contraindications, complications, and dental office emergencies. Dentists: 15 hrs/year (secondary sources indicate at least ~8 must be live/interactive and cite a ~1 hr jurisprudence and opioid-prescribing component for DEA registrants). Dentist-specific self-study cap and mandatory-topic detail are set in dentist rule 21 NCAC 16B .0102, which could not be retrieved from a primary source in this pass (board/OAH PDFs returned TLS/connection errors) — hence medium confidence on dentist caps and mandatory topics; hour totals are high-confidence.