Upholding Quality Care

Mission Statement

The mission of the College of Dental Hygienists of British Columbia (CDHBC) is to protect the public by developing, advocating, and regulating safe and ethical dental hygiene practice in British Columbia.

There are almost 3200 registered dental hygienists in B.C.

As a registrant of a self-regulating profession, a dental hygienist must practice safely, ethically, and effectively for the promotion of the oral health and well-being of the public, as outlined by the CDHBC Practice Standards.

In accordance with the Health Professions Act, the practice of dental hygiene is monitored and regulated by independent governing bodies in each province. Certain provinces, including B.C., require dental hygienists to obtain national certification (see NDHCB) before applying for registration. Those who have not graduated from a program on Schedule I and/or have not been previously registered within Canada, or dental hygienists from other countries, also must successfully challenge the CDHBC Clinical Exam in order to apply for registration to practice within British Columbia.

News & Events

Quality Assurance Program Update

We are pleased to offer a summary of CDHBC's QAP development, and we will continue to post updates regularly as more information becomes available. Click here to view. (If you haven't already done so, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

Annual Report 2009-2010

A copy of the most recent CDHBC Annual Report may be requested by contacting the College, or you may download a copy here.

Darlene Thomas Award Recipient 

The College would like to congratulate Diane Eade, recipient of the 2010 Darlene Thomas Award for Vision and Leadership in Dental Hygiene. 

ACCESS Spring 2010

A special anniversary edition

Download the most recent CDHBC newsletter here, or visit the News & Events page to view back-issues.

Election Results

The College is pleased to announce the following 2010 Board Election results: Tamera Servizi, elected from the Vancouver Island/Coast region, and Carrie De Palma, elected from the Cariboo North region.

Committee Positions 

The College currently has four Committees that support the work of the Board and College.  The bylaws require that each Committee has three registrant representatives.  If you are interested in volunteering to serve on one of the CDHBC Committees, please contact the College at cdhbc@cdhbc.com.

Update: Interpretation Guidelines for Antibiotic Premedication of Clients with Joint Replacements

Due to recent changes in recommendations for the prophylactic premedication of clients with joint replacements, the CDHBC Interpretation Guidelines have been revised as follows:

Current scientific evidence indicates that dental clients who have undergone an orthopaedic joint replacement may be at risk for bacteremia-associated hematogenous seeding of bacteria onto joint implants in the early post-operative period and for many years following implantation.  

Dental hygienists will consult with the client’s orthopaedic surgeon on a case-by-case basis, except in cases where a decision regarding the need for premedication had been previously determined by the client’s surgeon and was clearly documented.

For the complete version of this guideline, please refer to Tab 7 of the CDHBC Handbook.