RHS Exam Prep

About Course

DANB® Certification • Self-Paced • Certificate Included

RHS® Exam Prep

Your strategic path to the DANB® Radiation Health and Safety certification — built to help you pass the first time.

Stop Memorizing. Start Understanding.

The Radiation Health and Safety (RHS®) exam is one of the toughest hurdles dental assistants face. So we re-engineered the prep experience. This RHS exam prep course doesn’t just hand you facts to memorize. Instead, it provides the clinical context to understand why each protocol exists, preparing you for the exam and the operatory.

High-Yield Focus

We target the small slice of material that drives most exam questions — concentrating on physics, biology, and safety where it counts.

Safety-First & ALARA-Centric

Safety is a major part of the RHS® exam. So you’ll master ALARA, patient protection, and operator protection from the ground up.

Built to the DANB® Exam Blueprint

Every unit mirrors an official exam domain, so your study time maps directly to what you’ll be tested on.

Exam Domain	Weight	What You’ll Master
Purpose & Technique	50%	Intraoral and extraoral techniques (bitewing, FMX, panoramic, cephalometric, CBCT), error correction, mounting, and diagnostically acceptable images.
Radiation Production & Safety	25%	X-ray physics (kVp, mA, exposure time), primary vs. scatter radiation, tissue effects, ALARA, shielding, filtration, and collimation.
Standard Precautions & Infection Control	25%	ADA, CDC, and OSHA standards for treatment-room setup, barriers, surface disinfection, instrument sterilization, PPE, and hand hygiene.

The Coy Academy Advantage

Exam Alerts

Watch for the red callout boxes. They flag the concepts that appear on the exam repeatedly.

Video & Interactive Tools

Short video lessons, anatomy flashcards, and tooth-numbering guides make tough concepts click faster.

Mock Exams & Quizzes

Unit quizzes and full-length practice tests build recall and real exam-day confidence.

Plain-English Glossary

A specialized dental-radiography glossary ensures the jargon never trips you up.

Who This Course Is For

This course is designed for dental assisting students preparing for certification and for practicing dental professionals seeking the RHS® credential. No prior radiology background? No problem. We start with the fundamentals and build from there.

What’s Included

✓ Written modules across all three exam domains

✓ Module quizzes and unit practice tests

✓ A full-length RHS® practice exam

✓ Intermediate level • Certificate of completion

Ready to Pass the First Time?

Join the dental assistants who used Coy Academy to fast-track their RHS® certification. Start today and study at your own pace.

Start Your RHS® Prep Today

RHS® and DANB® are registered trademarks of the Dental Assisting National Board, Inc. Coy Academy is an independent study-aid provider and is not affiliated with DANB®. This course assists with exam preparation only; exam fees are not included, and passing is not guaranteed.

Course Content

Introduction
Here is what to expect

Unit 1A: Purpose and Technique (50%) (Purpose)
A. Purpose of radiographic images 1. Periapical 2. Bitewing 3. Full mouth series 4. Occlusal 5. Full-mouth survey 6. Panoramic 7. Cephalometric 8. CBCT (cone-beam computed tomography) B. Technique 1. Review patient medical and dental histories for contraindications, including medications. 2. Intraoral techniques, including error correction. a. Paralleling b. Bisecting angle 3. Extraoral techniques, including error correction. a. Panoramic b. Cephalometric c. CBCT (cone-beam computed tomography) basics 4. Technique modifications based on anatomical variations and clinical conditions. 5. Purpose and maintenance of radiographic equipment. 6. Patient management techniques. 7. Mounting and anatomical landmarks that aid in mounting. 8. Anatomical structures and dental materials observed on images (e.g., differentiating between radiolucent and radiopaque areas). 9. Features of a diagnostically acceptable image. 10. Prepare images for legal requirements (e.g., HIPAA).

Unit 1B Purpose and Technique (50%) (Technique)

Unit 2A: Radiation production (25%)
Radiation production. 1. Sources of radiation for operators/other staff during radiation production. 2. Factors affecting x-ray production (e.g., kVp, mA, exposure time). 3. Radiation characteristics. 4. Radiation physics. a. Primary. b. Scatter (secondary). 5. Radiation biology. a. Short-and long-term effects of radiation on cells and tissues. b. Concepts of radiation dose.

Unit 2B: Radiation Safety
Radiation safety. 1. Causes of unnecessary exposure to radiation. 2. Patient exposure to radiation (ALARA, ADA recommendations). 3. Factors that influence radiation safety (e.g., filtration, shielding, collimation, PID length). 4. Patient radiation concerns. 5. Informed consent or patient refusal for exposure to radiation. 6. Protocol for suspected x-ray machine malfunctions.

Unit 3A: Standard precautions for equipment and supplies (25%)
Standard precautions for equipment and supplies according to ADA, CDC and OSHA, including but not limited to: 1. breakdown and setup of treatment room. 2. barriers. 3. position indicating and beam alignment devices. 4. clinical contact surfaces. 5. critical and semi-critical instrument sterilization

Unit 3B: Standard precautions for patients and operators
Standard precautions for patients and operators according to ADA, CDC and OSHA, including but not limited to: 1. hand hygiene. 2. PPE (donning, doffing). 3. cross contamination.

Vocabulary Terms

Practice Exams

Student Ratings & Reviews

5.0

Total 1 Rating

1 Rating

0 Rating

Campbell Johnson

2 years ago

This really helped me pass my RHS exam!!