Connecticut Dental Hygienist license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Connecticut dental hygienists must complete 16 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section (State Dental Commission). Connecticut dental hygiene licenses renew annually. Each person holding a license to practice dental hygiene registers with the Department of Public Health during the month of the licensee's birth (Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-88(a)). The one year period covered by that registration is the registration period, but continuing education is counted over the preceding twenty-four months rather than the one year term. Connecticut also mandates specific subjects. Infection control in a dental setting: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle. Cultural competency: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle.

Connecticut Dental Hygienist renewal and continuing education rules

"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.

Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-126l(g) requires a licensed dental hygienist applying for license renewal to earn a minimum of sixteen contact hours of continuing education within the preceding twenty-four-month period. That is the hygienist figure in the hygienist chapter, Chapter 379a, and is not derived from the twenty-five contact hours Chapter 379 sets for dentists. Because the license renews annually, the CE window is a rolling twenty-four months and does not match the one year registration period. Subject matter must reflect the professional needs of the licensee and provide significant theoretical or practical content directly related to clinical or scientific aspects of dental hygiene. On-line courses qualify and the statute sets no cap on them. Qualifying providers include CODA or regionally accredited dental schools and other institutions of higher education, the ADA and affiliated associations, the National Dental Association, the American Dental Hygienists Association and its affiliates, the Academy of General Dentistry, the Academy of Dental Hygiene, the American Red Cross or American Heart Association when sponsoring CPR or cardiac life support programs, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the armed forces at federal facilities, hospitals and other health care institutions, CODA accredited or recognized agencies and businesses, medical associations and state or local health departments. Professional organizational business meetings, speeches at luncheons or banquets and reading books, articles or journals do not count. The volunteer substitution cap for hygienists is five contact hours in a two year period, half the ten hour cap dentists get. A licensee not in active practice during a registration period may claim an exemption, and the commissioner may waive or extend for medical disability or illness.

Required CE topics for Connecticut dental hygienists

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a Connecticut RDH need to renew?

Connecticut dental hygienists must complete 16 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section (State Dental Commission). Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-126l(g) requires a licensed dental hygienist applying for license renewal to earn a minimum of sixteen contact hours of continuing education within the preceding twenty-four-month period. That is the hygienist figure in the hygienist chapter, Chapter 379a, and is not derived from the twenty-five contact hours Chapter 379 sets for dentists. Because the license renews annually, the CE window is a rolling twenty-four months and does not match the one year registration period. Subject matter must reflect the professional needs of the licensee and provide significant theoretical or practical content directly related to clinical or scientific aspects of dental hygiene. On-line courses qualify and the statute sets no cap on them. Qualifying providers include CODA or regionally accredited dental schools and other institutions of higher education, the ADA and affiliated associations, the National Dental Association, the American Dental Hygienists Association and its affiliates, the Academy of General Dentistry, the Academy of Dental Hygiene, the American Red Cross or American Heart Association when sponsoring CPR or cardiac life support programs, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the armed forces at federal facilities, hospitals and other health care institutions, CODA accredited or recognized agencies and businesses, medical associations and state or local health departments. Professional organizational business meetings, speeches at luncheons or banquets and reading books, articles or journals do not count. The volunteer substitution cap for hygienists is five contact hours in a two year period, half the ten hour cap dentists get. A licensee not in active practice during a registration period may claim an exemption, and the commissioner may waive or extend for medical disability or illness.

How often does a Connecticut RDH license need to be renewed?

Dental Hygienist licenses in Connecticut renew every year. Connecticut dental hygiene licenses renew annually. Each person holding a license to practice dental hygiene registers with the Department of Public Health during the month of the licensee's birth (Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-88(a)). The one year period covered by that registration is the registration period, but continuing education is counted over the preceding twenty-four months rather than the one year term.

What specific CE topics are required for Connecticut dental hygienists?

Infection control in a dental setting: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle. Cultural competency: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle. Citations: infection control in a dental setting (Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-126l(g)) and cultural competency (Conn. Gen. Stat. 20-126l(g)).

Do Connecticut dental hygienists have to submit CE certificates at renewal?

Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 3 years. The statute lists categories of acceptable sponsors rather than requiring board approval of individual courses, and the Department of Public Health does not pre-approve coursework.

Sources

Last verified September 8, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 379a, Dental Hygienists (Sec. 20-126l, continuing education)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 19a-88, License renewal by certain health care providersStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 8, 2026
• Dental Hygienist Continuing Education, Connecticut Department of Public HealthState board page, accessed September 8, 2026

Connecticut puts dental hygienists in their own statutory chapter, Chapter 379a, with their own continuing education subsection at 20-126l(g), while dentists sit in Chapter 379 at 20-126c. Both are licensed by the Department of Public Health and disciplined by the same State Dental Commission. Every hygienist figure here was read from 20-126l(g) and confirmed on the department's hygienist CE page; none of it was scaled from the dentist rule. The differences are real: sixteen contact hours rather than twenty-five, two fixed mandated subjects rather than a choose-any-three list, a five hour volunteer substitution cap rather than ten, and no controlled substance or pain management requirement at all. On the first renewal exemption the two credentials also differ in how the law is written: 20-126c(d) plainly exempts a dentist renewing for the first time from continuing education, while 20-126l(h) only excuses a first time renewer from signing the attestation statement and does not exempt the underlying requirement, so exempt_first_renewal is left null rather than copied over from the dentist record. The annual birth month renewal comes from Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-88(a), which names dental hygiene explicitly. Carryover is not addressed, so those fields are null.