NBDHE Board Prep · Enrollment opens in 2027
Know you're ready before test day
Start with the free readiness diagnostic
Most students can't tell where they're weak or when they're ready. The diagnostic answers both before you spend a single study hour.
- Step 1
Take a timed set of questions
Practice questions across every NBDHE area, case questions included, timed like the real exam.
- Step 2
Get a score by subject
See where you're strong and where you're not, area by area, instead of 1 overall number.
- Step 3
Get a plan built from it
Your weakest areas come first. Tell us your exam date and how long you can study each day.
The diagnostic is free. Take the NBDHE diagnostic. In the course, your score keeps updating as you study, so you can see when you're ready.
Make a free study plan
Pick how long you have until your exam and how many minutes a day you can study. The plan gives each area time in line with how many questions it has on the exam, with patient case practice every study day.
Turn on JavaScript to change the plan. This plan is for 4 months at 30 minutes a day.
17 weeks, about 51 hours of study
Each study day: 17 minutes on the week's area and 13 minutes on a patient case. 1 day off each week.
Weeks 1 to 4
Scientific basis for dental hygiene practice
56 questions on the exam
Weeks 5 to 13
Provision of clinical dental hygiene services
124 questions on the exam
Weeks 14 and 15
Research principles and community health
20 questions on the exam
Weeks 16 and 17
Full practice and pacing
Mixed, timed questions from every area. Today the exam has about 7.5 hours of testing in 1 day, so build up to longer sittings.
A general plan based on the JCNDE's updated exam outline, effective November 1, 2026. It is not the course. For case practice today, the JCNDE publishes its own sample questions and practice modules.
If you're retaking the NBDHE
Not passing is hard. Here's what the rules allow, and a calm place to start.
- You can test again after at least 60 days, and you can take the exam up to 4 times in any 12‑month period.
- You need to pass within 5 years of your first attempt or within 5 attempts, whichever comes first. After that, you can test once every 6 months.
- Your results report shows your overall scale score and how you did by area, including the case area.
- Make a plan above, then spend extra time on the areas your report showed were weakest.
Read the retake rules in the candidate guide (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
What NBDHE Board Prep will include
A question bank in the exam's formats
Single best answer, EXCEPT questions, case sets and community health testlets.
Case sets
Example patients with a history, dental charts and radiograph descriptions, like the exam's case questions.
An AI tutor
Every answer choice is explained. Ask the tutor a follow‑up and it answers from the same checked sources.
Flashcards that adapt
Rate each card, and the ones you find hard come back sooner.
Short lessons
Narrated slide lessons of 5 minutes or less, each ending with something to answer.
2 full mock exams
Timed like the real sessions, with shorter timed sets to build up to them.
Every lesson will be 5 minutes or less and work on your phone, so you can study between classes or patients.
What it will cover
The whole exam, weighted the way the exam is.
- Scientific basis for dental hygiene practice, including pharmacology and local anesthesia.
- Provision of clinical dental hygiene services: patient assessment, radiography, care planning and periodontal disease management.
- Research principles and community health, which comes as testlets: a scenario with a set of questions.
- Patient cases: today 150 questions are built around 12 to 15 patient cases.
- Topics the updated specifications name: local anesthesia, occlusal evaluation, emerging technologies, implant care, and documentation and risk management.
- Current guidelines, including the 2017 periodontal classification.
Discipline counts are from the JCNDE's updated test specifications, effective November 1, 2026.
What to look for in NBDHE prep
Whichever course you choose, these are the questions worth asking. Here's what ours will include.
| Look for | Why it matters | NBDHE Board Prep |
|---|---|---|
| A readiness score by subject | So you know when you're ready, not just how many questions you've done. | A free diagnostic first, then a score that updates as you study |
| Case questions that look like the exam | 150 of today's 350 questions are built around patient cases. | Case sets with a history, charts and radiograph descriptions |
| A full rationale for every answer | Knowing why the wrong answers are wrong is how you fix a weak area. | Every choice explained, and an AI tutor to ask follow‑up questions |
| Built on the current outline | The JCNDE updated the test specifications, effective November 1, 2026. | Written to the updated specifications |
| Full-length timed practice | Today the exam runs about 7.5 hours of testing in 1 day. | 2 full mock exams, plus shorter timed sets |
| Original questions only | Recalled questions from the real exam break the JCNDE's rules. | Written from named sources, signed off by a licensed dentist |
| Help after you pass | Your first job asks for skills boards don't test. | ADEX CSCE OSCE and local anesthesia review in the Hygiene License Pack |
Prices
6 months of access is standard, and the pass‑or‑extend promise comes with every course.
Status: Opens first
NBDHE Board Prep
NBDHE
$297for 6 months
A free readiness diagnostic, then a question bank with case sets, an AI tutor, flashcards and 2 full mock exams.
Reach the readiness target, sit your exam and don't pass, and we extend your access for free.
Pay in full, or over time with Affirm or Klarna at checkout.
Status: Opens first
Hygiene License Pack
NBDHE, ADEX CSCE OSCE and local anesthesia written
$347for 12 months
Every written and computer exam most new hygienists need, in 1 purchase.
- NBDHE Board Prep
- ADEX CSCE OSCE Review
- Local Anesthesia Written Review
- State law exam guide
Reach the readiness target, sit your exam and don't pass, and we extend your access for free.
Pay in full, or over time with Affirm or Klarna at checkout.
Pass or we extend
If you reach the readiness target in your course, sit the exam while your access is active and don't pass, send us your official result within 30 days. We'll extend your access by the length of your plan, free, as many times as you need.
You can get a full refund within 7 days of buying if you've used less than 10% of the course. After that, the pass-or-extend promise applies instead of refunds.
Already licensed? Training for working hygienists, starting with First 90 Days RDH, is at Accelerated Hygiene.
Questions about board prep
- When can I take the readiness diagnostic?
- It's free on its own page, with no account, as soon as our licensed reviewer signs off the questions. Your full readiness score, which updates as you study, comes with NBDHE Board Prep when enrollment opens.
- What will NBDHE Board Prep cost, and for how long?
- $297 for 6 months of access, or $347 for the Hygiene License Pack with 12 months. You can pay over time with Affirm or Klarna. Joining the list is free and takes no payment.
- I didn't pass the NBDHE. Is this for me?
- Yes. Start with the diagnostic, then spend your time on the areas it shows are weakest. You can test again after at least 60 days, and you can take the exam up to 4 times in any 12‑month period.
- What if I don't pass?
- If you reach the readiness target in your course, sit the exam while your access is active and don't pass, send us your official result within 30 days. We'll extend your access by the length of your plan, free, as many times as you need. You can get a full refund within 7 days of buying if you've used less than 10% of the course. After that, the pass‑or‑extend promise applies instead of refunds.
- Will you publish a pass rate?
- Not until we have real results to report. When we do, we'll say how many students reached a readiness score and how many of them passed.
- Are your questions from the real exam?
- No. Every question is original, written from named textbooks and other published sources, and signed off by a licensed dentist. We never use questions recalled from the real exam.
More answers are in the common questions.
How every question gets checked
Every lesson and question will go through the same 6 steps before you see it, and after.
- 1
Named sources
We start from the exam's published outline, named textbooks and other published sources.
- 2
AI first draft
AI drafts the lesson or question from those sources.
- 3
Disagreements flagged
Where sources disagree, it's flagged for the reviewer.
- 4
Licensed sign-off
A licensed dentist reviews and signs off every question before anything is published.
- 5
You can flag it
Every lesson and question will have a “Something's wrong here” button.
- 6
Re-checked each season
When an exam owner updates its outline or manual, the affected questions are reviewed again.
Enrollment opens in 2027
Get notified when enrollment opens
Leave your email and we'll write when enrollment and the free readiness diagnostics open, hygiene boards first.
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Run a dental office? Go to Accelerated Dental Training