Dental Licensure Overview

Text courtesy of: ADA Dental Boards and Licensure, Information for the New Graduate.

Dental licensure marks the transition between dental school and dental practice. The licensure process, regulated by state boards, validates the dental profession’s self-regulation and protects the public.

In the United States, each state sets its own requirements for professional licensure. Although each state has a dental board, its level of autonomy varies. Although specific dental requirements vary among jurisdictions, nearly all states require that applicants for initial dental licensure have graduated from an ADA-accredited dental school, have passed the National Board Exams 1 and 2, and have passed a clinic exam administered by the state or by a regional testing agency.

In an effort to assist state boards in determining the qualifications of dentists who seek licensure, the Joint Commission on National Dental Examination developed the National Board Dental Examinations. This Commission includes representatives of dental schools, dental examiners, dental hygiene, dental students, dentists, and the public. There are two parts to the National Boards: Part I, which is taken after the second year of dental school, and Part II, taken during the final year of dental school. Both parts are offered in a computerized format. Although additional examinations may be required at the state level, all licensing boards use the National Board Dental Examinations to satisfy a major portion of their licensing examination requirements. Approximately 90% of dental students enrolled in accredited dental schools pass each Part on the first attempt. In addition to the National Board Exam, most states require a written jurisprudence examination, which tests the applicant’s knowledge of that state’s dental practice act.

Once the educational and National Board Examinations requirements are met, the next step is to take the appropriate clinical dental licensing examination. Clinical exams are developed and administered by clinical testing agencies, and these testing agencies administer exams at dental schools. Most states participate in one of more regional examining boards, and a few administer their own exams. The regional examining boards do not have the authority to license individuals and should not be confused with the state boards of dentistry, which are the state licensing authorities.Unlike the written examinations, which are fairly standard, clinical exams may vary. Most candidates who do not achieve licensure on their first attempt fail in some aspect of the clinical exam.

Tufts administers the North East Regional Board of Dental Examiners, Inc. (NERB) examination. For more information about NERB, please visit their website at www.nerb.org.

Curriculum Integrated Format
Examinations are currently administered in a Traditional Format and the Curriculum Integrated Format (CIF). The Traditional Format is administered to candidates who have either graduated, or are within forty-five days of graduation from dental school . All four parts of the examination are administered within a dew days under the Traditional Format.

The Curriculum Integrated Format is administered to senior dental students of record beginning with the simulated examinations early in the senior year and the Restorative and Periodontal examinations early in the second semester of the senior year. It allows dental students to take the examination in sections spread out across their last year of dental school, instead of taking all four parts (usually during the same week) at the very end of senior year. Candidate scores are reported to their dental school administration for the purpose of student remediation. Feedback has been positive, with students citing that they are more relaxed and generally more prepared because of the timeframe. Students can be eligible for licensure by the time of graduation, which means that they can begin planning their transition out of dental school several weeks earlier than those whose exams are near graduation and have to wait eight weeks for scores.

As of Fall 2006, all schools in CRDTS and NERB states were participating in the Curriculum Integrated Format.

For further information, please visit the ADA licensure website.

For more information about licensure please contact Lee Gant.