The National Dental Hygiene Certification Examination™ (NDHCE™) measures the knowledge of new graduates from Canadian dental hygiene (DH) programs and internationally trained DH Professionals, against current national DH practice and educational standards.

The NDHCE™ tests the level of knowledge, judgment, and skills of Canadian Dental Hygienists that are expected at the entry-to-practice level. The NDHCE™ is constructed in such a way that it respects diversity in terms of culture, provincial/territorial regulations, language, and special needs. The process to develop the exam is thorough and includes checks and balances as well as multiple layers of review. The NDHCE™ is fair and meets or exceeds published technical requirements for standardization (the treatment of all candidates in a similar matter), reliability (consistency in measurement), and validity (measuring what we are supposed to measure).