Registration Information

Under section 46 of the Health Professions Act (HPA), General or Courtesy Registration with the College is mandatory if a person intends to practice dental hygiene as an permanent or temporary employee, contractor, volunteer, or practice owner or operator, for any portion of the year – even if it is just for one day. The practice of dental hygiene could be as a clinician, educator, administrator, health promoter, consultant, or researcher and could involve:

• Providing professional services directly to the public,
• Manufacturing dental appliances,
• Teaching the practice of dental hygiene to regulated members or students, or
• Supervising regulated members who provide professional services directly to the public.

The Health Professions Act (HPA) sets out the basic process and requirements for registration, but the detailed requirements that must be met for registration are included in the Dental Hygienists Profession Regulation (the “Regulation”). The HPA provides three pathways for individuals to apply for General Registration as a registered dental hygienist in Alberta for the first time:

1. By meeting the educational and certification requirements as listed in the Regulation.
2. By being an active registrant in good standing to practice dental hygiene in another Canadian jurisdiction.
3. By providing evidence of qualifications and experience that are deemed substantially equivalent to the College’s competencies required for registration. This option may require additional examinations or assessments.

Click the button for more information about initial registration with the ACDH.

Initial Registration

If your previous registration with the ACDH (or CRDHA or ADHA) was cancelled, you may apply for a reinstatement of your registration. If you are currently on the Non-Practicing Register and would like to transfer back to the General Register, you must apply to transfer your registration. Click the button for more information about reinstating a cancelled registration or transferring from the Non-Practicing Register to the General Register.

Reinstatement and Transfer

Under section 28 of the Health Professions Act (HPA) and the Dental Hygienists Profession Regulation, the College is responsible for setting the standards of practice, including entry-to-practice requirements, in order to ensure the safe, ethical and competent practice of the dental hygiene profession in Alberta.

The following is required from all applicants:

• A completed online Application Form.
• Payment of the non-refundable application fee.
• A Vulnerable Sector Check completed within 1 year from the date it is received by the College (must be sent directly from the issuing organization to the College).
• Evidence of completion of the Protecting Patients from Sexual Abuse and Misconduct e-Learning course

"Protecting Patients from Sexual Abuse and Misconduct"

• Evidence of completion of the ACDH Jurisprudence Examination (access will be granted at the initial review).
• Evidence of professional liability insurance that meets the minimum requirements

ACDH PLI Policy

• Evidence of current CPR certification at the required level

ACDH CPR Policy

• Completed CPR Certification Declaration Statement for Instructors form

CPR Certification Declaration Statement for Instructors

The following documentation may be required from applicants, depending on their circumstances:

• A completed Verification of Registration/Certification/Licensure form from the regulatory body in each jurisdiction where you were a regulated health professional
• Results of a language proficiency test if your dental hygiene education and exams were not done in English.

Additional requirements may be necessary based on your pathway of registration. Please see the specific application pathways for more information and read the relevant application information document carefully and in its entirety to ensure that you have submitted all required documentation.

An applicant for registration may not practice dental hygiene in the province of Alberta until they have received notification that their application has been approved and they have been added to the ACDH General Register. This includes temporary assignments or working interviews.

It is strongly recommended that the registration process is started well in advance of any pre-arranged employment. The College works to process applications as quickly and efficiently as possible, however there are factors that can impact the time it takes to process an application for registration. These factors include the time of year an application is made, what, if any, documentation is missing from the application, or if there are additional assessments needed to make a decision on the application.

An applications for registration must be made on the current and required online form. All applications will be reviewed on an individual basis. No application will take priority over another.

Click the buttons below and read each Registration Policy to determine which pathway fits your circumstances. Once you have determined which policy you should apply under, make sure you complete the full application package and double check the Application Checklist to ensure you have included all required documentation.

Initial Registration

Reinstatement and Transfer

Courtesy

Authorization for Advanced Restricted Activities must be applied for separately from your registration application. Click the button below for more information about applying for Authorization for Advanced Restricted Activities.

Advanced Restricted Activities

Documents that must be sent directly to the College from other organizations can be mailed to:

    The Alberta College of Dental Hygienists
    Suite 302, 8657 - 51 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB, T6E 6A8

Any documents that do not need to have an original signature, notarization, or official seal can be emailed to registration@acdh.ca.

Sections 31 and 32 of the Health Professions Act (HPA) set out the requirements and process for a review of a decision by the Registrar or Registration Committee.

An applicant whose application for registration has been approved with conditions, deferred, or refused by the Registrar or Registration Committee may request a review of the decision by Council. A request for review must be provided in writing to the Registrar within 30 days of the applicant being given a copy of the decision. The request must include the reasons why the application should be approved with or without conditions and the required fee as approved by Council and listed in the ACDH Fee Schedule. The Registrar will share the request with Council.

Within 30 days of receiving the written request and fee, the Registrar will notify the applicant of the date, time, and place that the Council will conduct the review.

The review will start no later than 60 days after the request is received by the Registrar. 

An applicant and the Registrar or Registration Committee may appear with or without legal counsel and make representations to the Council during the review.

After reviewing the decision and any additional documentation or representations, the Council may:

• Confirm, reverse, or vary the original decision
• Refer the matter back to the Registrar or Registration Committee to make a further assessment and decision, and
• Make any further order the Council may deem necessary for the purposes of carrying out its decision.

Any decision made by the Council, along with the reasons for its decision, must be provided to the applicant and the Registrar or Registration Committee as soon as reasonably possible.