Dentist Licensure Requirements in Vermont

The ADA lists the American Board of Dental Examiners exam (ADEX, administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA), CRDTS+SRTA, and PGY-1 for Vermont.

Read together with the Board's own rules below, this means an applicant must pass one of the accepted clinical examinations, or complete a year of CODA-accredited graduate dental training (the PGY-1 alternative) in its place.

Section 601 requires an applicant to have reached the age of majority, be a graduate of a CODA-accredited dental college (or a foreign dental program plus a CODA-accredited postgraduate program acceptable to the Board), and meet the certificate, examination and training requirements the Board sets by rule.

The Board's rule 4-1 adds that an applicant must be 18 or older, have completed emergency office procedures and CPR training within the previous 24 months, and pass the Vermont Statutes and Rules Exam for dentists.

Rule 4-2 requires qualifying education (a CODA-accredited D.D.S./D.M.D., an equivalent foreign-plus-postgraduate pathway, or a credential-evaluation-service equivalency), passage of the NBDE Parts I and II, the INBDE, or the National Dental Examining Board of Canada's written exam, and either passage of one of the accepted clinical examinations (ADEX administered by CDCA or CITA excluding the optional periodontal exam, CRDTS, SRTA, WREB if taken before July 1, 2020, another Board-preapproved regional or national exam, or a recognized specialty certifying board's exam) or at least one year of CODA-accredited graduate dental training with the supervising dentist's attestation of ADEX-level competency.

Section 602(a) lets the Board grant a license to a CODA-accredited graduate who currently holds a license in good standing in a U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction the Board deems substantially equivalent, has completed an approved emergency office procedures course, has passed the dentist jurisprudence examination, and meets active-practice and other Board-set requirements.

Section 602(b) allows a license for a graduate licensed in a jurisdiction the Board does not deem substantially equivalent if the Board finds the applicant's experience or education overcomes the gap and the applicant has practiced full-time (at least 1,200 hours per year) for a minimum of five years, is in good standing everywhere licensed, and has completed the emergency office procedures course and jurisprudence exam.

Rule 4-3 sets out three specific endorsement routes: Equivalency Endorsement (a substantially equivalent U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction, with active-practice proof required if licensed there more than two years), a Fast-track Endorsement from any U.S. jurisdiction after three years of practice in good standing regardless of that jurisdiction's requirements, and a 5-year Endorsement from a Canadian jurisdiction after five years of practice in good standing including at least 1,200 hours per year.

Section 584 defines unprofessional conduct for which the Board may refuse, suspend, revoke or otherwise discipline a license.

Among the listed conduct, holding out to the public as specially qualified or announcing specialization using terms like "specialist in" or "practice limited to" is unprofessional unless the ADA has formally recognized the specialty and a certifying board for it, and the dentist has either met CODA's educational requirements and standards for that specialty or is a diplomate of the ADA-recognized certifying board.

Licenses and registrations renew every two years on a schedule the Office of Professional Regulation sets, with no continuing-education reporting due at the first biennial renewal after licensure and a waiver available for licensees on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.

To renew, a dentist must meet the Board's active-practice requirements and document at least 30 hours of Board-approved continuing professional education, including an emergency office procedures course, in the two-year period before renewal; a dentist who has not been in active practice for five years or more must instead meet the Board's separate renewal-by-rule requirements.

Rule 10-4(a) sets the active-practice measure: at least 800 hours of active practice or 100 continuing-education credits within the preceding five years, with one CE hour equating to eight practice hours when the two are combined.

The Board may audit compliance and requires documentation to be kept for the previous two licensing cycles; CE from AAOM, ADBA, ADA, CODA, DANB, ADHA, ADAA, the Academy of General Dentistry's PACE program, the Vermont Department of Health's Oral Health Program, or their constituent/accredited entities is pre-approved, and no more than two hours per renewal may count toward a basic life support/CPR course or an emergency office procedures course.