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United States · Licensing exam

NBDHE pass rate: what the JCNDE publishes

The Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) publishes failure rates for the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE), so an NBDHE pass rate is a subtraction. In 2025, 10.1% of first-time candidates from programs accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) failed. That leaves 89.9% passing, by our subtraction. Across all 9,876 attempts that year, 18.7% failed.

  • 10.1%2025 first-try failures, CODA programs
  • 40.1%2025 first-try failures, other programs
  • 18.7%2025 failures, all attempts
Read the Technical Report

Updated November 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

NBDHE failure rates by year

This is Table 15.2 from the JCNDE’s 2025 NBDHE Technical Report. “Non” means candidates from programs that aren’t accredited.

YearCODA 1stCODA retakeNon 1stNon retakeAll
20165.1%41.7%27.6%35.6%8.1%
20176.2%48.9%33.2%46.9%11.0%
20185.8%46.2%34.8%44.3%10.4%
20197.9%49.1%35.5%51.3%13.8%
20209.7%51.3%44.0%60.7%15.7%
202113.4%50.5%51.3%59.4%22.7%
202214.3%54.5%55.7%66.1%24.0%
202312.1%53.9%46.4%61.1%21.4%
202410.9%51.9%37.1%64.6%19.3%
202510.1%54.9%40.1%59.7%18.7%

To turn a figure into a pass rate, take it away from 100. The 18.7% for all 2025 attempts means 81.3% passed. The report notes that first-time candidates tended to do better than repeaters, and graduates of accredited programs better than others.

Why does the NBDHE pass rate shift in 2017?

The table marks 2017 as the year a new standard was introduced. A 12-member committee recommended it at a meeting on May 11 and 12, 2015, the JCNDE approved it in 2016, and it took effect in early 2017. The report gives those dates but doesn’t say how much of any change in the figures comes from the standard.

The JCNDE’s April 2026 report also planned an updated NBDHE performance standard for 2026. This table ends in 2025, so it doesn’t show any effect of that change.

How the 75 passing score works →The 2026 Candidate Guide’s specifications →

Did the 2020 and 2021 short form fail more people?

Candidates from 2020 and 2021 asked whether the shorter NBDHE form used during the pandemic had higher failure rates. The Department of Testing Services studied it and, the JCNDE says, found no meaningful difference between the standard and short forms.

What it did find is that candidates who tested later in 2020 were more likely to fail, on either form. Its view is that they were further from their studies and clinical work.

JCNDE: Notes on NBDHE failure rates ↗

How many attempts each figure covers

The table counts attempts in each group, so a repeater can appear more than once across the years:

YearCODA 1stCODA retakeNon 1stNon retakeAll
20167,937506214458,162
20177,262677253818,273
20187,360654328888,430
20197,3168523771198,664
20206,9387643021358,139
20217,4781,5715342719,854
20226,9331,7212351689,057
20237,4561,6822951729,605
20247,7091,5373421759,763
20257,8931,5602991249,876

The report doesn’t break these down by school or state, and it stops at 2025.

Retake rules →Study options →
Sources: JCNDE and 2 more. Checked November 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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