Dentist Licensure Requirements in Arizona

The ADA lists three accepted clinical examination pathways for Arizona: the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) exam as administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA, the DLOSCE, and CRDTS+SRTA.

Arizona law requires that the clinical examination be administered by a state or regional testing agency in the United States within the five years immediately preceding the application.

Section 32-1232 requires an applicant to hold a diploma conferring a doctor of dental medicine or doctor of dental surgery degree from a recognized dental school, meet the examination requirements of Section 32-1233, submit a written application with a nonrefundable $300 Arizona dental jurisprudence examination fee (waived for restricted-permit applicants), and obtain a valid fingerprint clearance card.

The board may deny an application for prior disciplinary cause, unlicensed practice, a false statement in the application, or a revoked, suspended, restricted, or surrendered dental license in another jurisdiction; if the applicant is currently under investigation by another jurisdiction's dental board, the board must suspend the application and may not issue or deny it until that investigation is resolved.

Administrative Code R4-11-301 sets the application's supporting documents — a sworn statement, a recent photograph, an official transcript, proof of the clinical and national board exam results, current CPR certification, license verification from any other jurisdiction, and, for previously licensed applicants, a National Practitioner Data Bank self-inquiry no more than 30 days old — and requires a passing score of at least 75% on the Arizona jurisprudence examination.

Under Section 32-1240 the board may waive the examination requirements for an applicant who passed another state's or testing agency's clinical examination more than five years before applying, if that jurisdiction's licensure standard is substantially equivalent to Arizona's; the board requires a minimum number of active practice hours and an affirmation of compliance with the applicant's current continuing-education requirements, and may charge a fee of up to $2,000.

Administrative Code R4-11-202 adds specifics: a current license from another state, territory, or the District of Columbia; a sworn affidavit of at least 5,000 practice hours in the five years before applying; a continuing-education compliance affidavit; clinical-exam evidence under R4-11-201(A); and a passing score of at least 75% on the Arizona jurisprudence examination.

The fee is reduced by 50% for applicants who commit to three years of exclusive service in a designated underserved area or facility.

Arizona must issue a license to an applicant who establishes residency in the state, and without examination to an applicant who is married to an active-duty service member relocating to an Arizona installation, if the applicant currently holds a license in good standing in the same discipline and practice level in at least one other state, has held that license for at least a year, met that state's education and (if applicable) work-experience and clinical-supervision requirements, and previously passed any examination that state required.

The applicant must have no revoked, voluntarily surrendered, disciplined, or currently investigated license, and no pending complaint or unresolved discipline in another jurisdiction, and must pay all applicable fees and clear a disqualifying-criminal-history check.

Subsection (C) preserves a regulating entity's ability to still require an applicant to pass an examination on Arizona law as part of its licensure process, except where subsection (A) grants a license without examination — the military-spouse pathway, not the residency pathway.

A dentist may advertise as a specialist, or use the terms "specialty" or "specialist," only if their practice is limited exclusively to a specialty area recognized by a certifying board and accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.

The rule names nine qualifying specialties: endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthodontics, dental public health, oral and maxillofacial pathology, and oral and maxillofacial radiology.

A dentist qualifies by being grandfathered (having declared the specialty before December 31, 1964), by completing a two-or-more-year CODA-accredited specialty education program, or by meeting a recognized specialty board's board-eligible or board-certified requirements.

A dental license expires thirty days after the licensee's birth month every third year, and renewal requires a written affidavit of continuing-education compliance and a renewal fee of up to $650.

Administrative Code R4-11-1203 sets the credit-hour requirement at 63 hours of Recognized Continuing Dental Education per renewal period: at least 36 hours in core clinical topics, no more than 15 hours in practice-organization and management topics, at least 3 hours each in opioid education, infectious disease or infection control, and CPR, ACLS, or PALS training, and at least 3 hours in ethics or Arizona jurisprudence.

A dentist who provides botulinum toxin type A or dermal fillers to a patient needs at least 12 additional hours of didactic or clinical training in that area.

R4-11-1209 caps a defined set of independent activities — including self-study courses, board or peer-review participation, teaching, publication, and charitable-clinic work — at 21 of those hours for dentists, and an expired license can be reinstated within 24 months of expiration by paying the renewal fee plus a $100 penalty.