Dental Hygienist Code of Ethics

The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to provide general statements of the principles of ethical conduct, and an explanation, so that Registered Dental Hygienists may fulfill their duty to the public and to their profession.

This Code of Ethics was created by the legacy College of Dental Hygienists of BC.

Oral health professionals are reminded that they are ultimately accountable and responsible for understanding and interpreting any limits or conditions that might appear in Ministry Regulations and BCCOHP Bylaws regarding restricted titles and scope of practice. Please reach out to BCCOHP’s Professional Practice team if you have any questions regarding the provision of any aspect of practice or defined restricted activities.

BCCOHP Standards and Guidance Project Update

BCCOHP is working to create professional and ethical standards for all regulated oral health professionals.

All standards and guidance documents for clinical and ethical practice and other practice resources previously ported over to BCCOHP from the legacy oral health colleges upon amalgamation on September 1, 2022, are currently under review by the Professional Standards Working Group on behalf of the Standards and Guidance Committee. Where there are questions of statutory alignment with current Ministry of Health regulations and BCCOHP Bylaws, those documents have not been rescinded but are being removed from BCCOHP’s public website to allow further consideration by the Board. A list of documents under review can be found here.

Learn more about the standards and guidance development initiative >>

The Code

This document was developed by the legacy College of Dental Hygienists of BC.