Dentist Licensure Requirements in North Carolina

The ADA lists a single accepted clinical examination for North Carolina: the ADEX exam, administered by the American Board of Dental Examiners as CDCA-WREB-CITA.

Only ADEX exams taken after September 25, 2013 are accepted, and North Carolina requires the optional periodontal scaling portion of the ADEX exam that other jurisdictions treat as optional.

Section 90-30 lets the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners license graduates of a reputable, Board-approved dental college who are of good moral character, at least 18 years old, and who pass a satisfactory examination of proficiency; the Board may conduct its own written, oral and clinical exams or accept Board-approved regional or national third-party clinical exams that include procedures performed on human subjects.

It may refuse a license for cheating or fraud during the exam, an academic or clinical deficiency, a crime of moral turpitude or gross immorality, or alcohol or drug addiction that renders the applicant unfit to practice, and a license obtained through fraud is void from the outset.

Administrative rules fill in the specifics: an applicant needs a DMD or DDS from a CODA-accredited school (a foreign-college graduate instead needs at least two years in a CODA-accredited program plus the degree), must pass the Board's sterilization and jurisprudence exams at 80% or better, the national written exam administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations, and a clinical exam from a Board-approved testing agency that tests periodontics plus at least three other listed subject areas with standardized, conjunctively scored grading.

Exam scores are accepted for five years, and an applicant who fails the clinical exam must also retake the written exam unless the clinical exam is passed within a year of passing the written one; the written exam can be retaken twice within 12 months (with a 72-hour wait between attempts), and a third failure requires additional Board-approved coursework before reexamination.

The exam requirement does not apply to applicants seeking a volunteer license, licensure by endorsement, or licensure by credentials, and every practicing dentist must maintain unexpired CPR certification.

Section 90-36 lets the Board issue a license by credentials to a dentist licensed in any U.S. state or territory who shows the required education, training and qualifications, is in good standing, has passed satisfactory examinations of proficiency, and meets the Board's other requirements; the Board may interview the applicant and may refuse a credentials license to anyone it determines unfit to practice.

Subsection (a1) requires the Board to issue a license by credentials to a dentist currently licensed and in good standing in one of the four states that border North Carolina, as long as that state's dental board also issues a license by credentials to a dentist licensed in North Carolina — the requirements of subsections (b), (c) and (d) still apply to that applicant.

Every credentials applicant must hold a CODA-accredited DDS or DMD, have actively practiced dentistry for at least five years immediately before applying, have no pending or final discipline in any state, territory or the Armed Forces, no felony convictions or other convictions affecting their ability to render competent care, and must not have failed a North Carolina Board examination.

Administrative Rule .0501 adds the paperwork: a notarized application and fee, an affidavit documenting the five years of practice and at least 5,000 hours of clinical care to patients (postgraduate training, residency and internship hours don't count), transcripts and licensure-status certificates from every jurisdiction held, the examination scores Rule .0303(b) requires — the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations written exam and a Board-approved clinical exam — a malpractice history, and passing scores on the Board's own written jurisprudence and sterilization/infection-control exams under Rule .0303(a); three failed attempts at those written exams within a year bars reapplying for licensure by credentials.

Rule .0105 makes it false or misleading — and therefore prohibited — for a dentist to hold out as a specialist, or use any variation of that term, in a practice area unless the dentist has completed a qualifying postdoctoral educational program accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, or holds current certification from a qualifying specialty board that the Board evaluates against six criteria, including a substantive educational program, a written or oral certifying exam with psychometric validation, recertification requirements, written bylaws and a code of ethics, staff to handle inquiries, and recognition by another body that assesses specialty organizations.

A qualifying specialist must disclose the certifying board in any advertisement and keep documentation of their qualification available to the Board on request.

A dentist who does not qualify to advertise as a specialist may still restrict their practice to specific areas or advertise availability, as long as the advertisement avoids the word "specialist" or any variation of it and states that the services are provided by a general dentist.

Licenses renew annually: applications are due to the Board by January 1 each year, a late fee applies if the renewal isn't received by January 31, and the license becomes void if the renewal, fee and required documentation aren't received by March 31.

Section 90-31.1 requires all licensed dentists to complete Board-approved continuing education, and Rule .0201 sets the minimum at 15 clock-hours per calendar year, including at least 1 hour on controlled-substance prescribing practices for dentists who prescribe them; dentists who received an instructor's or general dentistry license after January 1, 2019 must also complete a 6-hour professionalism and ethics course in their first required CE year, counted within the 15-hour total.

Rule .0206 requires 1 clock-hour of continuing education on substance abuse and mental health every two calendar years, and that hour may be applied toward the 15-hour total required for that year.

The Board grants full or partial exemptions to dentists who practice below set hour thresholds (250 or 1,000 clock hours per year) or who are fully retired, and licensees can earn CE credit for full-time dental teaching or dental-related government service (10 hours per year), part-time service of at least 20 hours per week in those settings (5 hours per year), or volunteer dental care at a state, city or county site (up to 2 hours per year, at a 1:5 ratio).