How to transfer your Dental hygienist licence to California (2026)

Dental hygienist work in California is licensed at state level, by the California Board of Dentistry. This page says what a dental hygienist licensed or working in another state has to do to work in California, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Every state licenses dental hygienists and most offer licensure by credentials to a hygienist licensed elsewhere for a set number of years, typically two to five, with the national board exam passed and no discipline. States that do not offer licensure by credentials require a regional clinical exam they accept; California's board publishes which ones.

Exam: National Board Dental Hygiene Examination plus a clinical exam the state accepts.

How long: four to twelve weeks. Fee: $100 to $400; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• National board scores
• Proof of years in practice
• CPR card and continuing education record
• A jurisprudence exam result if ${STATE} requires one

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in California already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming your clinical exam is accepted; it depends on the region and the year you took it
• Not having enough licensed years for the credentials route and discovering it after the move

Who hires dental hygienists in California

Dental hygienists in California are hired by private dental practices, dental service organisations, public health clinics and schools. The metros with the most of that work are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the California openings page.

For the money side: the median dental hygienist in California earned $121,080 a year ($58 an hour) in May 2024 across 22,940 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and California has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 13.3%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about California, on one page

The California page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of California employers hiring from out of state.