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License renewal · Pennsylvania

Dental Hygienist License Renewal in Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania State Board of Dentistry (Department of State, BPOA) sets the rules. Renewal: biennial (2-year period beginning April 1 of each odd-numbered year); deadline: licenses expire March 31 of odd-numbered years (current period April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2027). Continuing education: 20 hours per biennial renewal. Each fact below is quoted from an official state source, linked beside it, and was checked on 2026-10-09. Confirm with the board before you rely on it: rules change.

Renewal cycle and deadline

biennial (2-year period beginning April 1 of each odd-numbered year) — licenses expire March 31 of odd-numbered years (current period April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2027)

Source: pacodeandbulletin.gov · pa.gov

Continuing education

20 hours per biennial renewal.

  • 2 hours Act 31 Mandated Child Abuse Reporter Training from an approved provider (part of the 20)

No more than 50% online/individual study; CPR courses cannot count toward CE

Source: pa.gov

CPR / BLS

Current infant, child and adult CPR certification is a condition of biennial renewal; CPR courses must be hands-on and cannot count toward CE.

Source: pacodeandbulletin.gov · pa.gov

Late renewal and lapse

Dental hygienists who fail to renew their licenses are prohibited from practicing in Pennsylvania.

Source: pacodeandbulletin.gov

Verify a license

The board's public lookup: www.pals.pa.gov

For the office manager

The renewal is the hygienist's to complete, but a lapsed license is the practice's problem on the schedule. Keep each hygienist's expiry date where an alert reaches both of you well before it, long enough for any CE still owed. The free renewal calendar makes reminders for your own calendar; LVL Up Performance keeps the dates on each staff record and alerts ahead. Neither tracks CE hours or checks anything with the board.

Sources, quoted

  • “Licenses and certificates are renewable for a 2-year period beginning April 1 of each odd-numbered year.” — pacodeandbulletin.gov
  • “Biennial Renewal of license - April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2027” — pa.gov
  • “20 hours of continuing education is required for biennial renewal of license.” — pa.gov
  • “Of those 20 hours, 2 hours must be Board-approved continuing education in child abuse recognition and reporting.” — pa.gov
  • “licensees and certificate holders shall maintain current certifica-tion in infant, child and adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation” — pacodeandbulletin.gov
  • “Courses for certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) must be hands-on and cannot be applied toward fulfillment of the C.E. requirements.” — pa.gov
  • “No more than 50% of the required credits may be taken through online/individual study.” — pa.gov
  • “Dentists and dental hygienists who fail to renew their licenses and expanded function dental assistants who fail to renew their certificates are prohibited from practicing” — pacodeandbulletin.gov
  • “You can verify whether the professionals you interact with have an active professional or occupational license to work in PA” — pa.gov

Checked 2026-10-09. Something out of date? Write to mauricio@lvlupperformance.com and we will fix it. This page is information, not legal advice.

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