Dentist Licensure Requirements in Hawaii

Hawaii accepts the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) examination, administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA.

Effective 2013, ADEX consists of four required sections — a computer-based Diagnostic Skills Examination, a manikin-based Endodontic Clinical Examination, a manikin-based Fixed Prosthodontic Clinical Examination, and a Restorative Clinical Examination — plus an optional Periodontal Clinical Examination; Hawaii requires passage of all five sections, including the Periodontal Clinical Examination, the section ADEX itself designates as optional.

On October 2, 2020 the Board of Dentistry voted to accept the ADEX CompeDont manikin-based examination and the manikin-based periodontal clinical examination, as referenced in Hawaii Revised Statutes section 448-9.4.

The ADEX full manikin-based dental licensure exam taken on or after June 5, 2020 is acceptable for a dentist license.

HRS §448-9 makes any person 18 or older eligible for licensure on submission of an application at least 45 days before the scheduled examination, the application and examination fees, a diploma or certificate from a CODA-accredited dental college approved by the board, and a certificate or other evidence of having passed Parts I and II of the National Board Dental Examination.

HRS §448-9.4 requires the applicant to take and pass the ADEX examination, and specifies that neither the state examination nor any regional examination is accepted.

HAR §16-79-9(a) restates five requirements for a dentist license: being 18 or older, passing the National Board Dental Examination, passing the ADEX dental examination, being a U.S. citizen, national, permanent resident, or authorized alien worker, and graduating from a CODA-accredited dental school.

HAR §16-79-114 requires any applicant with three ADEX failures to complete a full semester or trimester of postgraduate study in operative and prosthetic dentistry at an accredited dental college, evidenced by a certificate filed with the board, before retaking the exam.

Every dental licensure applicant must have sent directly to the board an official verification of having passed the National Board Dental Examination, an official verification of having passed the ADEX dental examination, and a certified copy of a dental degree, certificate of graduation, or official transcript from a CODA-accredited dental school.

Applicants already licensed as a dentist in another state must also submit an official verification of licensure and licensure status from that state's board of dental examiners and a self-query report from the National Practitioner Data Bank.

The board may require additional background checks from an independent, board-approved service, at the applicant's expense.

CE hours fall into required categories — clinical courses (more than half of a dentist's required hours per biennium), BLS courses (hands-on, from an approved sponsor, capped at 4 hours per biennium, with ACLS or PALS required for dentists administering general anesthesia or moderate sedation), and ethics courses (at least 3 hours per year for dentists) — plus other eligible categories such as non-clinical practice-management courses, volunteer hours (capped at 4 hours per biennium), instructor hours (capped at 2 hours per biennium), and convention attendance hours (capped at 2 hours per biennium).

HAR §16-79-144 sets biennial renewal, due by December 31 of each odd-numbered year: dentists first licensed in the first year of the biennium need 16 CE hours, those first licensed in the second year need none, and all other dentists need 32 CE hours, plus the 3 annual ethics hours required since January 1, 2016.

Licensees must keep attendance records for four years, certify compliance at renewal, and may be audited; failure to show compliance forfeits the license, and a waiver of the CE requirement is available for military service, incapacitating illness, disability, retirement, or other undue hardship.