Dentist Licensure Requirements in Montana

The ADA lists two accepted examination routes for Montana: the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) exam as administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA, and the combined CRDTS+SRTA regional exam.

A board-approved clinical practical exam must include a patient-based (or, beginning March 12, 2020, simulated patient-based) operative exam covering one direct posterior Class II composite plus any one of a direct posterior Class II composite, a direct posterior Class II amalgam, or a direct anterior Class III composite; a patient-based or simulated patient-based periodontal exam; a non-patient-based endodontics exam covering anterior access, posterior access, and obturation of one canal; and a non-patient-based prosthodontics exam.

Section 37-4-301 requires applicants to submit certification of successful completion of the national board examination and of a regional board examination, three affidavits of good moral character, a certificate of graduation from a board-approved dental school, and an application fee.

Rule 24.138.502 adds that applicants must have passed the written examination administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (or its successor), passed a board-approved regional clinical practical examination, and graduated from a dental school accredited by the ADA's Commission on Dental Accreditation.

Rule 24.138.550 requires a completed application form, the initial license fee, verification of the educational requirements, a current CPR, ACLS, or PALS card (internet courses accepted if paired with a hands-on evaluation of clinical competency), a National Practitioner Data Bank query by the department, verification of licensure submitted directly from any other jurisdiction where the applicant has held a license, and successful completion of the jurisprudence exam with a score of at least 75 percent.

Application fees are not refundable, and an applicant may withdraw an application in writing only before it appears on a board agenda.

The board will license a dentist without additional examination, other than a jurisprudence examination, if the applicant submits a completed application and pays the appropriate fees (credentialing, jurisprudence exam, and application); certifies graduation from a CODA-accredited dental school, passage of the national board dental examination with an original Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations score card, and completion of a board-approved regional clinical practical examination or any state clinical practical examination (reviewed case-by-case); submits license verifications from every jurisdiction where licensed or previously licensed; and shows at least six months of clinical, direct-patient-care practice immediately before applying plus active practice within the preceding five years, totaling 3,000 hours of experience, documented through practice-location history, malpractice-insurance records, a DEA registration number, federal-service documentation, dental-school employment documentation, or residency-program hours.

The applicant must also disclose all unresolved or adverse disciplinary decisions, submit certificates showing at least 60 hours of clinical continuing education completed in the three years before applying, submit a self-query of the National Practitioner Data Bank and a current CPR/ACLS/PALS card, and certify freedom from impairment by drugs, alcohol, or illness that would render the applicant unfit to practice.

Applicants must pass the jurisprudence examination with a final grade of at least 75 percent before a license issues, and application material remains valid for one year from the date the board receives it.

Specialty areas of dental practice and their certifying boards must be approved by the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards.

Montana's approved specialty designations are dental public health, endodontics, oral pathology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pedodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial radiology, oral medicine, and dental anesthesiology.

A dentist who announces as a specialist must have completed a Commission on Dental Accreditation-accredited educational program of two or more years, as specified by the Council on Dental Education, or be a diplomate of a nationally recognized certifying board, and may not advertise as a "specialist" or "specializing" without meeting those standards; a licensee with a verifiable combination of education and experience is not barred from practicing in one or more of the listed branches.

Under Rule 24.138.3003, a principal partner, officer, or licensed professional employee acting as an agent for a firm named in an advertisement is jointly and severally responsible for its form and content, advertisements are presumed approved by the named licensee, a dentist who does not meet the specialist criteria but advertises under a specialty category must clearly disclose that the services are provided by a general dentist, and advertising records must be kept for two years after publication.

Licensees must obtain 60 hours of continuing education per three-year cycle, on cycles running from a starting date of 2015, prior to renewal.

A dentist who also holds an anesthesia permit must obtain, as part of those 60 hours, 20 hours of deep sedation/general anesthesia education or 12 hours of moderate sedation education.

The requirement does not apply until a licensee's first full year of licensure, and the board does not preapprove CE programs or sponsors — licensees must select programs that contribute to professional knowledge and competence, contain significant intellectual or practical content, and are germane to the profession.

Licensees must also maintain a current CPR, ACLS, or PALS card (internet courses accepted if paired with a hands-on evaluation of clinical competency) and keep CE documentation available on request.

Noncompliance may lead to administrative suspension, and CE hours used to satisfy a disciplinary order do not count toward the cyclical requirement.