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NBDHE prep · case-based

Walk in ready to
make the call.

The boards don't reward what you can recite. They reward what you'd actually do with a patient in the chair — so that's what you practice here. Start free with the diagnostic and three full drills. No card, no catch.

Take the free diagnostic → See what's inside ↓

50-question diagnostic + 3 full drills, free · then $89 one-time for the rest

Try one now — board-style item Live

Mid-appointment your patient goes pale, lightheaded, and says they're about to faint. Your first move?

Vasovagal syncope drops blood flow to the brain. Reclining and elevating the legs restores it — that's the immediate first step. Sitting upright makes it worse, and 911 isn't first-line for a simple faint that resolves with positioning.

That's 1 item. The Study Set has 500+ — each with a full rationale like this.

ApproachActive recall

FormatReal patient cases

CoverageFull NBDHE blueprint

Built byA working RDH

StartFree diagnostic

Why I Built This

"I got lucky with how I studied. I couldn't hand it to the classmates struggling next to me back then — but I can hand it to you now."

No one handed me a system. I just noticed, almost by accident, that I remembered exponentially more from the case studies I read than from hours of lectures and stacks of flashcards. Something about working through a real patient — the history, the chart, the decision — made it stick where rote review never did.

I graduated from Idaho State in 2022, and the whole way through I watched people I cared about grind through flashcards and still feel like they were drowning. I couldn't really hand them what worked for me — back then it lived in some undiscovered part of my brain, more instinct than method. When I sat for the NBDHE, it didn't rattle me. Not because I'd logged more hours than anyone, and not because I'm any smarter. I'd just been studying the way the test actually thinks.

So this time I built it on purpose — and not only for people who learn like me. Everyone's brain works a little differently, so the set gives you a few ways in: interactive cases, focused skill drills, a question bank, and full-length mock exams. I've tested, refined, and polished it into something small but genuinely good, now open at a founding rate.

It's early, which is honestly the best time to grab it. If I improve the set, those updates roll out to everyone — founding members just get them first. And if none of it fits the way you actually learn, tell me. I'd rather build the thing you're missing than pretend it's already there.

You make the call first

Every case is built around moments where you have to choose. Choosing is what makes it stick — you get to the right answer by working toward it, not by reading it off the bottom of the page.

A real "why" on every answer

Every decision comes with the kind of explanation your best instructor gives in case conference: what to do, why it's right, and exactly where the tempting wrong answer falls apart. Not a one-line "correct!" and on to the next.

One patient touches everything

Real appointments don't stay in one lane. A single visit can pull in pharmacology, pathology, perio, communication, and documentation at once. The cases work the same way, so you cover the blueprint without drilling each piece in isolation.

Know the Content

What's actually on the exam.

Three domains, and the exam pulls from all of them. The good news: these are the same things you'll lean on every day once you're licensed, so none of this study time is wasted. The percentages below match the NBDHE's 2026 blueprint update, which leans harder into Clinical Services and adds emphasis on local anesthesia and newer technology.

~28%

Component A · Domain 1

Scientific Basis for Dental Hygiene Practice

Anatomical Sciences — head, neck, oral structures

Physiology — systemic & oral physiology

Biochemistry & Nutrition — nutrients, oral pH, caries chemistry

Microbiology & Immunology — oral flora, infection control

Pathology — oral & systemic disease processes

Pharmacology — drug actions, interactions, oral effects

~62%

Component A · Domain 2

Provision of Clinical Dental Hygiene Services

Assessing Patient Characteristics — health history, vitals, assessment

Obtaining & Interpreting Radiographs

Planning & Managing Dental Hygiene Care

Performing Periodontal Procedures

Using Preventive Agents — fluoride, sealants, antimicrobials

Providing Supportive Treatment Services

Pain Management & Local Anesthesia — expanded emphasis (2026)

Professional Responsibility — ethics, legal, informed consent

~10%

Component A · Domain 3

Community Health & Research Principles

Promoting Health & Preventing Disease in Groups

Participating in Community Programs

Analyzing Scientific Literature

Understanding Research Methodologies

Applying Research Results to Practice

The HOH Format

How a Case
Actually Works

Each case gives you a full patient encounter: health history, clinical findings, charting data. You work through it the same way you would at the chair. Assess what's in front of you, figure out what it means, decide what to do. Getting to the answer is where the learning happens, not reading about it afterward.

This format also mirrors how the NBDHE presents its patient-based cases. So when the boards come around, you won't be adjusting to something unfamiliar. You'll have done this dozens of times by then.

Health History Review Clinical Data Interpretation Radiographic Analysis Treatment Decision Making Patient Communication Documentation

Drills That Build Reflexes

Interactive drills that
build the instinct.

Cases teach you to reason through a whole patient. These shorter drills sharpen the fast, high-yield skills the boards test head-on. They run in order, from foundations up to exam simulation, and every one is scored and feeds your dashboard — so your weak spots keep resurfacing until they stop being weak spots.

Drills marked Learn · Board · Exam run in three difficulty modes — untimed with rationales, shuffled board-style, and a timed exam run. Your Exam-tier score is tracked separately, so a weak spot shows up even when your Learn score looks fine.

Filter

1

Foundations — learn the structures

Scientific basis · ~28%

Tooth & Periodontium

Click each structure of the tooth and periodontium — enamel to apical foramen — with a rationale on every answer.

Start labeling →

Tooth Numbering

Click the right tooth on a full arch for any Universal number or tooth name. Both arches, chart orientation.

Start the drill →

Molar Morphology

Label the cusps, ridges, grooves, CEJ, furcation, and roots on a molar — occlusal and buccal views.

Start labeling →

Head & Neck Anatomy

Place the muscles of mastication, TMJ, zygomatic arch, and mandibular landmarks on a lateral skull.

Start labeling →

2

Read the patient — assess & interpret

Clinical services · ~62%

Vital Signs & Blood Pressure

Classify readings on the 2017 ACC/AHA scale, assign ASA status, and make the defer-or-proceed call.

Start the drill →Learn · Board · Exam

Perio Staging & Grading

Read the case, assign Stage I–IV and Grade A–C with the 2017 framework. Pure exam points.

Start the drill →Learn · Board · Exam

Radiograph Identification

Read periapical and bitewing images: structures, caries, restorations, and film types. Radiopaque or radiolucent?

Read the films →

Spot the Finding

Hunt the caries, calculus, bone loss, restorations, and periapical lesions on the film — you click the finding.

Start spotting →

3

Act at the chair — treat & respond

Clinical services · ~62%

Local Anesthesia

Which block covers which teeth, the landmarks, maximum doses, and the cartridge and epinephrine math.

Start the drill →Learn · Board · Exam

Identify each scaler, curette, probe, and explorer and the task it is built for. Design tells function.

Start the drill →Learn · Board · Exam

Medical Emergencies

Syncope, anaphylaxis, asthma, hypoglycemia, seizure, choking — recognize it and choose the first move.

Start the drill →Learn · Board · Exam

4

Zoom out — community & research

Community health · ~10%

Community Health & Research

Epidemiology, biostatistics, the dental indices, prevention levels, and study design. The most memorizable 10% on the exam.

Start the drill →Learn · Board · Exam

★

Exam simulation — put it together

All domains · timed

★ Full-length · Study Set

The Full-Length Mock Exam

The whole exam day: 350 items — 200 discipline plus 150 case-based across 12 patient cases — in exam-day format with flag-and-review, an optional clock, and a score report across all 13 areas. Saves as you go.

Sit the full-length →

Start here · Free

The 50-Question Diagnostic

Weighted across all three domains. Find your weakest area and get a study plan that routes you to the right drills.

Take the diagnostic →

Free · timed checkpoint

Timed Mock Exam

25 blueprint-weighted questions under a 25-minute clock, then a full domain breakdown and rationale review. A quick checkpoint before the full-length.

Sit the checkpoint →

Everything saves to your dashboard → so you always know what to study next.

Student Course Catalog

The case
library.

Every case, sorted by domain. Work through them and it adds up fast.

Domain 2

Clinical Dental Hygiene Services

~62% of exam

Patient Management · Behavioral Science

The Anxious Patient: A Case-Based Approach to Dental Fear

Your 9:15 arrives visibly shaking. Assess dental anxiety, modify your approach, and navigate a real patient encounter using validated tools like the MDAS. Covers SSRI oral effects and documentation.

Assessing Patient Characteristics Patient Management Professional Responsibility

Start This Case →

Preventive Agents · Informed Consent

The Reluctant Patient: Fluoride Counseling & Informed Refusal

Marcus has done his research and he's not interested in fluoride. Navigate a patient who cites NTP data and pineal gland studies. Practice evidence-based counseling and informed refusal documentation.

Using Preventive Agents Professional Responsibility Patient Communication

Start This Case →

Pediatric · Patient Type

The Pediatric Patient: A Case-Based Approach to the Child in the Chair

Mateo is six and wary of the chair. Practice behavior guidance, caries-risk assessment, the eruption sequence, age-correct fluoride, and sealants — the core pediatric content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Pediatric Patient Using Preventive Agents Patient Management

Start This Case →

Pediatric · Patient Type

The Adolescent Patient: A Case-Based Approach to Trauma, Ortho & the Teen in the Chair

Jordan is 14 and arrives with an avulsed front tooth in a cup of milk. Work the avulsion clock and storage media, crown-fracture classification, orthodontic white-spot lesions, energy-drink erosion, vaping, and the custom mouthguard, plus the motivational-interviewing skills a teen actually responds to. It's the adolescent content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Pediatric Patient Dental Trauma Patient Management

Start This Case →

Geriatric · Patient Type

The Geriatric Patient: A Case-Based Approach to the Older Adult in the Chair

Margaret is 78, new to the practice, and arrives with a long medication list and a dry mouth. Work through polypharmacy and xerostomia, root caries, denture stomatitis, and the safe handling of her anticoagulant and bone medication. It is the high-yield geriatric content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Geriatric Patient Medically Complex Patient Management

Start This Case →

Geriatric · Patient Type

The Patient with Dementia: A Case-Based Approach to Caregiver-Dependent Care

Eleanor is 82 with moderate Alzheimer's, won't let the aides brush, and coughs when she drinks. Work through dementia communication and behavior, denture stomatitis and angular cheilitis, dysphagia and aspiration-pneumonia risk, caregiver-assisted hygiene, and decision-making capacity and consent. It's the dependent-geriatric content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Geriatric Patient Medically Complex Patient Management

Start This Case →

Special Needs · Patient Type

The Special Needs Patient: A Case-Based Approach to the Patient with a Disability

Marcus is 19, has Down syndrome, and hasn't been seen since his pediatric dentist retired. Work through patient-centered communication and consent, the current antibiotic-premedication criteria, atlantoaxial positioning, early-onset periodontal disease, and dignified, consented care. It's the high-yield special-needs content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Special Needs Patient Medically Complex Patient Management

Start This Case →

Medical Emergencies · Patient Management

The Syncope Emergency: Recognizing and Managing the Faint

Your patient is a big, tattooed foreman who waves off the anxiety question and skipped breakfast. Minutes later he's fainting in your chair. Catch the prodrome, run the management sequence, and prevent the next episode.

Providing Supportive Treatment Patient Management Professional Responsibility

Start This Case →

Medically Complex · Patient Type

The Cardiac Patient: A Case-Based Approach to the Medically Complex Patient

Frank is 64 with a prosthetic heart valve, a heart attack four months ago with a stent, and daily warfarin, and he just wants his cleaning. Work through infective-endocarditis antibiotic prophylaxis, anticoagulation and INR, post-MI precautions, epinephrine limits, and drug interactions. It's the high-yield medically complex content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Medically Complex Pharmacology Patient Management

Start This Case →

Medically Complex · Patient Type

The Cancer Therapy Patient: A Case-Based Approach to the Medically Complex Patient

James is 58 and starts chemoradiation for head and neck cancer in three weeks. Work through pre-treatment dental clearance and timing, osteoradionecrosis, radiation caries and lifelong custom-tray fluoride, mucositis and xerostomia, and chemotherapy blood counts. It's the high-yield cancer-care content the NBDHE tests, with board traps along the way.

Medically Complex Oral Pathology Patient Management

Start This Case →

Oral Cancer Screening · Referral

The Overlooked Lesion: Oral Cancer Screening & the Referral Conversation

Ray came in for a cleaning and mentioned a sore spot on his tongue, "probably nothing." Run a systematic head-and-neck exam, weigh the risk factors, apply the two-week rule, and handle the minimizing patient and the referral.

Assessing Patient Characteristics Pathology Professional Responsibility

Start This Case →

Periodontal Assessment

Beyond the Probe: Periodontal Assessment & Treatment Planning

A 54-year-old with generalized 4–5mm pockets and a history of inconsistent care. Practice interpreting a full perio chart, staging and grading periodontitis, and building a phase-one treatment plan.

Performing Periodontal Procedures Planning & Managing Care

Notify Me When Live

Radiographic Interpretation

Reading the Films: Radiographic Interpretation for Clinical Decision-Making

Walk through a full-mouth series and a series of targeted periapicals. Identify normal anatomy, caries, bone loss, and pathology. Then use what you see to inform your treatment recommendations.

Obtaining & Interpreting Radiographs Planning & Managing Care

Notify Me When Live

Patient Assessment

The New Patient Intake: Medical Histories That Change Your Plan

A new patient hands you a health history form. Heart disease, metformin, a blood thinner, and a vague allergy note. Work through what each disclosure means for your appointment and your documentation.

Assessing Patient Characteristics Planning & Managing Care

Notify Me When Live

Domain 1

Scientific Basis for Dental Hygiene Practice

~28% of exam

Pharmacology · Drug Interactions

Pharmacology at the Chair: Drug Interactions & Oral Health Implications

Your patient is on six medications. Work through their mechanism of action, relevant drug interactions, and what each means for treatment: xerostomia, gingival hyperplasia, bleeding risk.

Pharmacology Assessing Patient Characteristics

Notify Me When Live

Oral Pathology · Recognition

What Doesn't Belong: Oral Pathology Recognition in Clinical Practice

Work through a series of intraoral photographs. For each lesion, look at morphology, color, size, and location. Determine which require biopsy referral, watchful waiting, or documentation and monitoring.

Pathology Professional Responsibility

Notify Me When Live

Pathology · Physiology

Systemic & Oral: Diabetes, Hypertension, and the Dental Chair

Two of the most common systemic conditions walk into your operatory every day. Practice linking HbA1c to periodontal risk, blood pressure thresholds to treatment modifications, and drug effects to oral findings.

Physiology Pathology Assessing Patient Characteristics

Notify Me When Live

Domain 3

Community Health & Research Principles

~10% of exam

Research Literacy · Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence at the Chair: Reading Research Without the Statistics Degree

A patient hands you a printout from a questionable website. Work through how to evaluate that study: the design, the bias, the p-values, the clinical significance. Then practice actually using that analysis to answer the patient's question.

Analyzing Scientific Literature Research Methodologies

Notify Me When Live

Community Health · Water Fluoridation

Fluoride & the Community: Public Health Perspectives on Water Fluoridation

Community water fluoridation is one of the great public health achievements and one of the most contested. Practice presenting epidemiological data, assessing program effectiveness, and communicating with skeptical community members.

Promoting Health in Groups Community Programs

Notify Me When Live

Learn your way

Don't see how you learn?

Cases, drills, a question bank, mock exams — I built a few ways in. If none of them fit how your brain actually works, tell me. I'd rather build the thing you're missing than pretend it's already here.

Suggest a study format →

Why This Works

"The goal was never just to help you pass a test. It's to make you the hygienist that test is trying to measure."

Here's the mechanism, plain as I can put it: when you have to build the whole picture yourself — the patient, the chart, the call — it becomes yours in a way that reading never manages. That's not a study hack. It's just how memory works when you use it instead of reviewing it.

So question banks and flashcards land better after the cases, not before. Build the understanding first, and everything else you study finally has something to stick to.

11 Live

Full patient cases available now, plus 14 interactive skill drills.

10+

Cases across all three NBDHE content areas.

3 domains

Full coverage — Scientific Basis, Clinical Services, Community Health.

~45min

Per case. Fits a real study session, not a weekend commitment.

Start Free

See if it
actually
clicks.

Free actually means free here: your email unlocks the full 50-question diagnostic, three complete skill drills, and a study plan built from your results. When you want the rest, the Study Set is $89 — one time, twelve months of access, no auto-renew.

1

The full 50-question diagnostic and a study plan built from your results

2

Three complete skill drills, free — Tooth Numbering, Molar Morphology, Head & Neck

3

First notice when new cases and drills publish across all content areas

4

Direct line to the founder — tell us what you need to learn next

Student Sign-Up

Tell us where you are in your program so we can point you to the most useful cases first.

Your Name

School Email

Dental Hygiene Program

Where are you in your program?

Which content area do you want to build up most? (optional)

Also want in on live study webinars? Check this and you'll get first dibs when they launch.

Built to be trusted

Built by a hygienist who sat these boards.

Written by a practicing hygienist, aligned to the current board blueprint, and grounded in cited clinical evidence — not assembled from a generic question dump.

✍️

Written by a practicing RDH

Every item and case is authored and reviewed by a working dental hygienist.

📋

Current NBDHE blueprint

Weighted to the JCNDE’s updated 2026 specs, with the new emphasis on local anesthesia.

📚

Grounded in the evidence

Clinical statements are tied to cited, peer-reviewed sources — not opinion.

✓

14-day money-back

If it isn’t right for you, get a full refund within 14 days — no questions asked.

Free vs the Study Set

Exactly where the line is.

Your email unlocks a real slice of the product — not a locked demo. Here's what's free, and what the Study Set adds.

What you get

Free

with your email

Study Set

$89 one-time

Best for boards

50-question diagnostic

✓

✓

Study plan from your results

✓

✓

Interactive skill drills

3 full

All 12

Board-style question bank

—

Study + test modes

Interactive patient cases

—

All 7

Full-length 350-item mock exam

—

✓

Timed checkpoint + readiness dashboard

—

✓

500+ questions & prompts in all

$89

one-time · 12 mo

The Full Study Set

When you're ready for
all of it.

The free diagnostic and drills show you how this works. The Study Set is everything — the new full-length 350-item mock exam, every case, every drill, and the full question bank. Over 500 board-style questions and practice prompts in all — yours for a full year.

✓New — the full-length mock exam: a complete 350-item simulation (200 discipline + 150 case-based across 12 patient cases) in exam-day format, with flag-and-review and a score report mapped to all 13 discipline areas
✓The board-style question bank — study and test modes, a full rationale on every item
✓All 7 interactive patient cases — branching simulations with 200+ clinical choices, plus a 20+ question quiz on every case
✓All 12 skill drills — anatomy, radiographs, perio, local anesthesia, emergencies, and more
✓The 25-question timed checkpoint and your readiness dashboard
✓A full year of access — one payment, no auto-renew, no subscription

$89

one-time · 12 months

Unlock the Study Set →

✓ 14-day money-back guarantee — no questions asked

One payment · 12 months of access · no auto-renew.
One license, up to three devices.

Already purchased? Enter your license key →

Written by a practicing RDH and built to the current NBDHE blueprint. How this is built →

Start free — diagnostic + 3 full drillsthen $89 one-time · 12 months · no auto-renew