Dentist Licensure Requirements in Colorado

The Colorado Dental Board accepts all U.S. dental clinical examinations, performed on mannikins or patients, that provide adequate assurance of competency and safety, currently including the exams developed by ADEX and administered by CDCA and CITA, and the exams developed and administered by Delaware, CRDTS, SRTA, WREB and all OSCEs.

Every part of a clinical exam must be completed, though dentists are not required to complete WREB's optional prosthodontic portion; periodontal testing is required for dentists, and the WREB CTP exam (plus its manikin-based portion where available) satisfies that requirement.

The board also accepts successful completion of a PGY-1, portfolio, or OSCE requirement in lieu of a clinical examination for dentists, but a dentist submitting a PGY-1 or portfolio must already be fully, currently licensed in the jurisdiction where it was completed, or in another jurisdiction that has reviewed and accepted it toward licensure.

Section 12-220-403 requires every applicant to pass the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations exam and an examination or other board-determined methodology testing clinical skills and knowledge, which may include residency and portfolio models.

Rule 1.6(B) adds the underlying detail: a DDS or DMD from a school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation at the time of graduation, professional liability insurance of at least $500,000 per incident and $1,500,000 annual aggregate (or a listed exemption), and full disclosure of any disciplinary or malpractice history.

Applicants must also demonstrate current clinical competency through at least one of several listed routes — a degree earned in the past 12 months, one year of active clinical practice or teaching or military dental service within the past five years, a board-approved clinical exam passed within the past year, or a board-approved equivalency evaluation.

Dentists with a revoked, long-suspended or otherwise disciplined license may be required to meet more than one of these routes.

The board issues a license by endorsement to an applicant who satisfies the Occupational Credential Portability Program: the applicant must hold an active dental license in good standing in another state or U.S. territory, through the federal government, or hold a qualifying military occupational specialty.

Rule 1.6(C) requires endorsement applicants to also meet the same requirements original-licensure applicants meet under Rule 1.6(B) — a DDS or DMD from a CODA-accredited school, passage of the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations exam, and a board-accepted clinical exam or methodology (Rule 1.6(B)(1)), plus the professional-liability-insurance and disciplinary/malpractice-disclosure requirements (Rule 1.6(B)(2)).

The applicant must further demonstrate current clinical competency through one of several routes — at least one year of active clinical practice under a current license in a jurisdiction with a substantially similar scope of practice, at least five of the past seven years teaching dentistry with 300+ patient-care hours annually, a qualifying military dental record, a board-approved clinical exam passed within the past year, or a board-approved equivalency evaluation.

The board may deny endorsement if the applicant lacks substantially equivalent education, experience or credentials, or has committed a disciplinable act.

A licensed dentist has legal authority to practice in any area of dentistry, or to confine their practice to areas within their education, training and experience.

The board may discipline a dentist for advertising or holding out a dental specialty — the rule names twelve ADA-recognized specialties — without having completed the specialty education the ADA defines for it.

A dentist advertising an ADA-defined specialty must state that the specialty is ADA-defined and name the CODA-accredited school where the residency was completed; a dentist advertising a non-ADA-defined specialty must disclose that it is not ADA-defined and name the entity that defined it.

A general dentist who advertises a specialty procedure without completing the matching specialty program must prominently disclose "General Dentistry" in print larger and bolder than any other service listed.

Every licensee with an active Colorado license must complete 30 hours of board-approved continuing education during the two years preceding the next renewal; the requirement does not apply to inactive or retired status.

A license issued within one year of a renewal date owes no CE for that first renewal; issued outside one year, it owes 15 hours.

At least 16 of the 30 hours (or 8 of 15) must be clinical or science-based, at least half must be live and interactive, and current Basic Life Support certification is required of every licensee.

A dentist renewing an anesthesia or sedation permit may apply permit-specific CE (17 hours every five years) toward the 30-hour license requirement, and records must be kept for at least two renewal periods.