Introduction - Foreign Trained Dentists & US Licensure

I will try to do my best to explain several things related to obtaining license to practice dentistry in the United States for foreign trained dentists, this information should be useful one way or another to dentists who received their dental degrees from countries other than the US and want to be able to work as dentists in the US.

It's important to know that although I'm spending lots of time and effort compiling all of this, I can't guarantee the accuracy of all of the information listed here. It's always prudent to confirm this information and data with licensure authorities (state dental boards) in the state(s) you are considering to work in as they should have the most updated information. License requirements keep changing all the time making it even more important to get the most up-to-date information from the source directly.

The process of obtaining a license to practice dentistry in the US for international graduates or foreign trained dentists can be simply summarized in few steps (these steps represent an over-simplification, but should be useful as a basis):

1. Find out specific licensure requirements for the state or states you are considering to practice dentistry in, you can use this blog to find most of that information, but you have to always go back to the specific state dental board for the most up-to-date information.
2. Take at least the part I of the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE), you may elect to take part II too as some schools require that as part of their application process, more information about this exam will follow, including some of the changes that will affect this exam in the near future.
3. Apply to and get accepted in a two-year program at an accredited US dental school. You should select programs that grant a degree not a certificate as most dental state boards require a degree (DDS or DMD), I will try to go through most if not all the programs available out there and compare them.
4. Take a clinical license exam or apply to a post-grad program (depends on specific state).
5. Apply for license.

Since this is purely volunteer work done on my own free time, bare with me please if you can't find the information you are looking for right away, I will keep adding more info as time permits.
Good luck in your pursuit.

Read more at: www.foreigntraineddentist.net