Dentist Licensure Requirements in Alabama

The Board of Dental Examiners of Alabama currently accepts two regional exams for initial licensure: the American Board of Dental Examiners exam (ADEX, administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA) and CRDTS+SRTA, with both the mannequin- and patient-based portions of either exam accepted.

To apply for licensure under this method, the applicant must have passed a regional exam within the five years immediately preceding the date of the application.

Every applicant must be at least 19 years old, of good moral character, a U.S. citizen or legally present in the U.S., and a graduate of a dental school accredited by the ADA's Commission on Dental Accreditation and approved by the board, plus satisfy any other board rule.

Licensure by examination applies to two categories: applicants who have never been licensed or examined and apply within 18 months of graduating dental school or completing an accredited post-doctoral residency program, and applicants who passed a board-approved (but not board-administered) exam and apply within five years of being notified they passed; both categories pay an accompanying fee.

Once an application is approved, the board schedules the applicant for examination and grades each applicant by number rather than name, and may recognize the written parts of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations in place of or alongside its own exam.

Board Rule 270-X-2.01 separately sets a pre-dental coursework floor of 90 semester hours — including 8 hours of biology, 16 of chemistry, 8 of physics, 6 of math, and 30 non-science hours (12 of which must be English) — plus graduation from a board-approved dental school and passing the National Board Dental Examination Parts 1 and 2 or the Integrated National Board Dental Examination; missing the coursework floor alone does not bar an applicant from sitting for the licensure exam, provided the applicant is a graduate of a board-approved dental school.

Applications, with all required credentials and the examination fee, must be filed at least 30 days before the exam date, fees are non-refundable, and a passing grade carries over only until the next available examination.

A dentist who holds a current license in any state, has passed a board-approved exam, and has since graduation practiced clinical dentistry, participated in a clinical residency, or practiced in the Armed Forces or public health service is eligible for licensure — a separate route from the credentials pathway below — if the application is filed within five years of completing that residency or service.

The licensure-by-credentials pathway itself requires an applicant to have practiced clinical dentistry or taught full time for the five years or 5,000 hours immediately before applying; to hold a current, unrestricted license in a state whose exam standards (including passing the National Board Dental Examination Parts 1 and 2, or the Integrated National Board Dental Examination) the board regards as equivalent to Alabama's; to have that license verified as being in good standing with no pending disciplinary action, checked against the National Practitioner Data Bank, the Health Integrity Protection Data Bank, and the American Association of Dental Boards Clearing House; to provide a written statement agreeing to be interviewed at the board's request; and to pass a written jurisprudence exam.

The applicant must also submit affidavits from two licensed dentists (or, for a hygienist applicant, two dentists or hygienists) attesting to their moral character, provide an official dental-school transcript, hold DEA certification free of pending action, and have no felony or moral-turpitude conviction and no pending or final hospital privilege action; the board may additionally require criteria such as questioning under oath, peer-review results, substance-abuse testing, a background check, CPR certification, case reports, and proof of professional liability coverage.

A license granted by credentials may be revoked if the board later finds, after notice and a hearing, that the applicant committed fraud or falsified information in the application.

Alabama Administrative Code Rule 270-X-2.19 restates this same list of criteria in rule form.

Separately, Section 34-9-10(g) lets the board issue a special-purpose license limited to practicing dentistry across state lines, valid up to three years and renewable, to an applicant who holds a full, unrestricted license in another state or territory and has no disqualifying disciplinary history, available only where the applicant's home state offers Alabama-licensed dentists a reciprocal cross-state-lines license.

An applicant who does not qualify under any of the above but has passed a board-approved out-of-state exam and holds a license in good standing may still apply for licensure on payment of a fee, and the board has discretion whether to require an examination.

An applicant seeking licensure by credentials for a specialty only must be in a branch of dentistry the board has approved, must satisfy the board's existing education and standards for that specialty, and must limit their practice exclusively to the announced specialty.

A dentist originally licensed by credentials for a specialty only — rather than a general dental license — may not switch to practicing general dentistry until they pass the board's regular general dentistry examination; a dentist who instead holds a general license or passed a general exam and later drops a specialty to practice general dentistry only remains eligible for licensure by credentials as a general dentist.

No one may practice dentistry in Alabama without registering annually with the board; dentists must submit the board's registration form and fee by September 30 each year for a certificate valid October 1 through the following September 30, and a license not registered by January 1 is automatically suspended (reinstatable, for up to five years' lapse, on payment of accrued fees and a penalty).

Registration requires proof of 20 hours of continuing education completed and submitted within that year's renewal period, at least 10 of which must be live training, including current Basic Life Support certification (2-4 hours, live), at least 1 hour of controlled-substance prescribing training, at least 1 hour of infectious-disease-control training, and at least 1 hour of ethics training; a dentist holding an active sedation or anesthesia permit must also maintain current ACLS (or PALS, for a declared pediatric specialty) certification and complete at least 2 hours of sedation/anesthesia training if they hold an oral conscious sedation permit.

Up to 4 hours per year may be earned through pro bono charitable work in Alabama, credited at one CE hour per two hours of documented service.

Dentists enrolled full-time in a CODA-accredited postgraduate residency, licensees who obtain a board-approved waiver requested by September 1, and dentists licensed in Alabama but practicing outside the state are excused from the annual requirement, though a dentist returning from out-of-state practice must show CE for up to five years of the time spent away.

Licensees must keep continuing-education records for two years and are subject to random board audits.