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2010 Application Policies & Procedures

STUDENTS
Verification of successful completion of a degree program**(for dental hygiene exam) or course (for anesthesia and restorative exams) from an accredited dental hygiene school is required to take a WREB examination.

**Graduating seniors may take the dental hygiene exam during their final semester, with certification from the school dean or dental hygiene program director. Verification of graduation must be provided to individual states in order to receive a license. Some state boards may have more stringent requirements. Please contact the Board where you desire licensure for their requirements.

APPLICATION PROCESS
You can choose to apply for a WREB exam online or by mail-in application. Applications are processed on a first come, first serve basis, but online applications will receive priority over mail-in applications. Applicants must select to enroll completely online or completely by paper with a mail-in application. See below for explanations of the two processes.

Please be advised that space in all exams is limited. Once the maximum number of candidates submit complete applications, additional applications are not accepted. This may happen prior to the application deadline; therefore, you should apply early. Any exam having an insufficient number of candidates by the application deadline may be cancelled. If this happens, you will receive a full refund of your examination fee(s).

Once an application is submitted, it is considered a contract with WREB. If you fail to fulfill all requirements of the application, or are unable to take the exam, the refund policy (below) applies.

It is your responsibility to ensure that all application requirements are met and that all required items are received in the WREB office. IF ALL REQUIRED ITEMS ARE NOT RECEIVED IN THE WREB OFFICE THREE WEEKS PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE EXAMINATION, YOU FORFEIT THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THE EXAMINATION AND RECEIVE NO REFUND.***

*** This policy does not include the course verification if you are applying for the anesthesia or restorative exam prior to completion of an anesthesia or restorative course. You may apply for the exam prior to completion of an anesthesia or restorative course. If your application is accepted and the course is subsequently cancelled, or if you are unsuccessful in completing the course, the refund and cancellation policies apply as explained below.

If you are completing an anesthesia or restorative course, you must provide verification of successful completion of the course to the WREB office no later than three weeks prior to the first day of the examination. If that is not possible, you must notify the WREB office that you plan to bring the proper verification to the exam site. (If you bring improper verification or no verification to the examination site, you cannot take the written or clinical examination. You will be listed as a “No Show Candidate” and the examination fee is forfeited). At the examination site, the anesthesia Chief Examiner or the restorative Chief Examiner collects and verifies the certification before giving you permission to take the exam.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS
In order to apply online, you must pay with a credit card, upload a digital photo and digitally sign the WREB policy agreement. The only paperwork that will need to be submitted to WREB is the Verification of Certification Form and certification documentation. After you complete the online application, you will receive a confirmation email that contains a link to download the Verification Disclosure Form which must be mailed and received in the WREB office within 5 days of completing the online application. You can submit your certification documentation at a later time, but no later than three weeks prior to the exam, or you will be cancelled from the exam and no refund will be given.

MAIL-IN APPLICATIONS
To apply by mail, you must download the mail-in application. Your application should be mailed to the WREB office along with your two photos, exam payment (certified check, cashier’s check or money order only), Verification Disclosure Form, and the signed General Information/Policy Agreement. Your certification documentation to take the exam may be submitted at a later time, but no later than three weeks before the first day of the exam, or you will be cancelled from the exam and no refund will be given.

EXAMINATION FEES
The fee you pay to take this exam is comprised of a determined amount for WREB expenses and a per candidate fee assessed by the exam site. The WREB portion of the fee for the dental hygiene exam is $875, for the anesthesia exam it is $225, and for the restorative exam it is $400. The additional amount reflected in the total is the school use fee, which varies from site to site based on each site’s projected expenses for personnel and materials. Do not pay the fees listed in this paragraph as they are insufficient to cover your exam expenses. To determine the exact fee you will pay, refer to the Examination Schedule document.

LATE APPLICATION
Applications that are completed after the application deadline are charged a $100 late fee which will be automatically added to your application fee. Late applications are accepted on a space availability basis. If no space is available, your application and full exam fee (including the late fee) are returned.

REFUNDS AND CANCELLATIONS
IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT A WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF CANCELLATION IS RECEIVED IN THE WREB OFFICE. Notification of cancellation may be sent by overnight mail, fax, or e-mail. Exam fees cannot be transferred to a later exam (except in cases of a documented medical emergency–see details below). You must cancel out of one exam and reapply for a subsequent one. As soon as you apply, the following refund and cancellation policies apply:

1. A written cancellation received in the WREB office before or on the application deadline of the exam receives a full refund minus a $150 processing fee.

2. A written cancellation received in the WREB office after the application deadline and up to three weeks before the first day of the exam receives a 50% refund. (Exception: Anesthesia applicants will be refunded their exam fee, minus $150).

3. A written cancellation received in the WREB office after three weeks prior to the first day of the exam receives no refund. Exceptions may be made only in the case of a documented medical emergency occurring within three weeks of the exam. In such cases, 50% of the exam fee may be transferred to a future exam within twelve months, upon receipt of appropriate documentation (a doctor’s statement on his/her letterhead) and approval by the WREB Board. Please contact the WREB office for documentation requirements.
   

SCHEDULING REQUESTS
Requests for special exam scheduling must be received in the WREB office by the application deadline date. WREB does not guarantee specific dates. However, your request will be considered and, if possible, you will be scheduled accordingly.

To avoid scheduling conflicts, if you plan to share a patient for the Dental Hygiene exam or plan to use each other as anesthesia patients, you must include that information on your application in the Scheduling Request section. You are responsible for any inconvenience that occurs due to the sharing of patients on the same exam day. Be aware that patients treated in the morning may still be checking out early in the afternoon, which could conflict with being used by a different candidate that afternoon.

RE-EXAMINATION
If you fail the dental hygiene, anesthesia, or restorative examination, you may apply for re-examination upon submission of the required fee and a new application. WREB requires remediation if you have failed an exam three times. Please contact individual state dental boards for their requirements. Special restrictions may apply if you have failed an exam two or more times. If you are retaking the anesthesia exam and have received a passing score on the anesthesia written exam within the past 12 months, you are not required to retake the written exam.

LEFT HAND OPERATORY
If you would like a left hand operatory, check the appropriate box. WREB cannot guarantee the availability of left hand operatories. If the school has them available, WREB does its best to accommodate the request.

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
WREB makes every reasonable effort to offer the examination in a manner accessible to persons with disabilities. If you need special accommodations due to a disability, download and fill out the Special Accommodations Request form, and mail it to the WREB office.

If patients need special accommodations due to a wheelchair, etc., please notify WREB at the time of application. WREB cannot guarantee special accommodations, as each school is different. Note: Patients in wheelchairs must be able to move from the wheelchair into the examining chair.

EQUIPMENT
You must furnish all instruments and materials, including high and low speed handpieces. You may supply and use ultrasonic and sonic devices as an adjunct to calculus removal. A chair, operatory, and certain expendable materials are furnished at the exam site. Please refer to your candidate guide(s) for further information. Some sites provide equipment rental. Please refer to the school information which will be sent to you with your candidate guide(s).

MALPRACTICE INSURANCE
CNA Insurance Company, in cooperation with the WREB, will extend WREB’s professional liability coverage with the limit amount of $1,000,000/$3,000,000 for the patient based-portion of the calendar year 2010 WREB Clinical Exam in Dental Hygiene and Local Anesthesia to you at no charge. WREB will forward your name and address to CNA. This will provide professional liability coverage for the scheduled examination dates only.

SCHEDULE
Once schedules are generated they are not changed. You will receive your schedule approximately three to four weeks prior to the exam. Schedule information is not available by phone and will be released only if your application is complete.

EXAMINATION CONTENT
The Hygiene examination covers patient qualification, calculus detection and removal, an extra/intraoral assessment, and periodontal probing and recession measurements. The Restorative examination covers the condensation and carving of restorative materials in two dentoform teeth, using amalgam and composite procedures. The Anesthesia examination includes a 55-question, multiple choice written examination, and a clinical portion that requires two nerve block injections - an IA and a PSA. Refer to the Candidate Guides for more information.

CANDIDATE GUIDE & POLICY GUIDE
The appropriate Candidate Guide(s) and the WREB Policy Guide, which provide information pertaining to WREB exam procedures and criteria, are mailed to you after your application is processed. You can also download the guides here.