The academic performance of students enrolled in a distance education dental hygiene program at Northcentral Technical College (NTC) in Wausau, Wisconsin, was analyzed in a comparative, quasi-experimental study. The study sample consisted of five cohorts of program graduates (students graduating in 1997-2001). The experiment groups were divided based upon whether they pursued the program at the host college or one of the cooperating college (distance) sites with which NTC shares its dental hygiene program. The achievement of the learners at the host and cooperating college sites was compared based on their grade-point averages (GPAs) and their performance on the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE). No statistically significant differences between the scores achieved by the two groups of learners on the NBDHE were identified. Neither were any significant differences between students' GPAs in 10 of the 11 core dental hygiene courses found. It was concluded that the distance educational technology of interactive television used in NTC's dental technology program resulted in acceptable levels of learner performance. (Contains 43 references. Appended are a listing of dental hygiene core curriculum courses, the NTC grading scale, and 17 tables summarizing the two groups' performance in core courses.) (MN)