Dentist Licensure Requirements in Florida

The ADA lists a single accepted clinical examination for Florida: the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) exam, administered as CDCA-WREB-CITA, in either its typodont manikin-based or patient-based format.

Scores from an ADEX exam taken in a jurisdiction other than Florida are only accepted if the exam was completed on or after October 2, 2011.

To be licensed, an applicant must be at least 18 years old, hold a degree from a dental school accredited by the ADA's Commission on Dental Accreditation (or another accrediting entity recognized by the U.S. Department of Education), or be a dental student in the final year who has completed the coursework needed to sit for the licensure exams, and must have passed the examination administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations.

Section 466.006(4) then requires two further exams: a written examination on Florida's laws and rules regulating dentistry, and a practical or clinical examination that must be the American Dental Licensing Examination (ADLEX) developed by the American Board of Dental Examiners, administered in Florida.

An applicant may instead submit ADLEX scores from another jurisdiction if the exam was completed after October 1, 2011; if those scores are more than 365 days old, they remain valid only if the applicant also documents five consecutive years of full-time practice (a minimum of 1,200 hours per year) in another U.S. state, territory, the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico — or, if licensed there for less than five years, full-time practice since the date of initial licensure — holds a current unrestricted license there, discloses any report to national practitioner databanks, and meets several other listed conditions.

Under Florida Administrative Code 64B5-2.013, all parts of the ADEX must be completed within 18 months of the exam's start (or of the applicant's last year of dental school) and each part must be passed with a grade of at least 75%.

Florida's Mobile Opportunity by Interstate Licensure Endorsement (MOBILE) Act, Section 456.0145, lets the board issue a license by endorsement to an applicant who holds an active, unencumbered dental license from another state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory, has actively practiced for at least 2 of the preceding 4 years, has passed a national licensure exam or holds a recognized national certification, is not subject to pending discipline or an unresolved complaint, and has had no disciplinary action in the preceding 5 years.

Florida Administrative Code 64B5-2.0141 requires an applicant for licensure by endorsement to also pass a written examination on Florida's dental laws and rules.

Separately, Rule 64B5-2.0150 lets an applicant whose out-of-state ADLEX scores are more than 365 days old still use them, provided the applicant documents five consecutive years of full-time practice (1,200 hours per year) in a recognized jurisdiction — or, if licensed there for less than five years, full-time practice since initial licensure — and meets the other criteria in Section 466.006(4)(b).

A Florida dentist may not hold out as a specialist, or advertise membership in or specialty recognition by an accrediting organization, unless they have completed a specialty education program approved by the ADA and the Commission on Dental Accreditation and are eligible for examination by, or are a diplomate of, a national specialty board recognized by the ADA, or have continuously held themselves out as a specialist in an ADA-recognized specialty since December 31, 1964.

A dentist may announce a practice emphasis outside a recognized specialty, but only with a disclosure, set in capital letters or otherwise clearly distinguishable, stating that the announced area is not recognized as a specialty by the American Dental Association or the Florida Board of Dentistry.

Licenses renew every two years upon payment of a renewal fee not to exceed $300.

Section 466.0135 requires each licensed dentist to complete at least 30 hours of continuing professional education in dental subjects per biennium, including a minimum of 2 hours on the safe and effective prescribing of controlled substances.

Florida Administrative Code 64B5-12.013 layers in mandatory content that counts toward that 30-hour total: a 2-hour course on the prevention of medical errors each biennium, a 2-hour domestic violence course as part of every third biennial renewal, and a one-time 2-hour HIV/AIDS course no later than the first renewal.

Separately, each dentist must also hold current CPR certification at the basic life support level (in-person or blended learning, not online-only) each biennium — CPR training and certification do not count toward the 30-hour requirement.