Dentist Licensure Requirements in Virginia

Effective January 1, 2023, the Virginia Board of Dentistry accepts only the ADEX examination, administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA, from applicants applying for licensure by examination.

The policy applies to any examination completed in calendar year 2023 or later, regardless of when individual portions of the exam were taken.

Code of Virginia § 54.1-2709 requires a current Board of Dentistry license to practice, and conditions an application on good moral character, graduation from an accredited dental school, passing all parts of the National Board Dental Examinations, completing a clinical examination acceptable to the Board, and any other qualifications the Board's regulations set.

Subsection C lets the Board license a dentist already licensed elsewhere in the U.S. if they meet those same requirements, hold a current unrestricted license in good standing in every jurisdiction where they hold or have held one, have no grounds for denial under § 54.1-2706, and have been in continuous clinical practice for five of the past six years — active-duty dental corps care, public-health volunteer practice, or an internship or residency program can count toward that history.

The Board must offer an inactive license to dentists who hold a current unrestricted Virginia license but do not wish to practice, and must require continuing education for every renewal or reinstatement.

Under the accompanying regulations, an application must include a certified transcript, proof of National Board passage, and a current National Practitioner Data Bank report (18VAC60-21-190); the underlying dental degree must come from a CODA- or CDAC-accredited pre-doctoral program, or a post-doctoral program of at least 12 months (advanced general dentistry) or 24 months (another specialty) with a clinical component (18VAC60-21-200); and licensure-by-examination applicants must pass all National Board parts and a Board-accepted clinical competency exam, with three exam failures triggering a 14-hour additional-training requirement per section before a fourth attempt, and exams passed five or more years before applying triggering a possible retest or retraining unless the applicant shows 48 of the last 60 months in continuous licensed practice (18VAC60-21-210(A)).

All applicants for licensure by credentials must have passed every part of the National Board Dental Examinations and completed a clinical competency examination acceptable to the Board — the credentials path does not waive the clinical exam.

They must also hold a current, unrestricted license to practice dentistry in another U.S. jurisdiction, be certified in good standing by every jurisdiction where they hold or have held a license, and show at least five of the past six years in continuous clinical practice in another jurisdiction or in federal civil or military service, where public-health volunteer work, an internship, or a residency program may count.

One year of qualifying practice means a minimum of 600 hours in a calendar year, as attested by the applicant.

Code of Virginia § 54.1-2709.1 directs the Board of Dentistry to write regulations certifying board-certified or board-eligible oral and maxillofacial surgeons to perform certain procedures that fall within the definition of dentistry but are unrelated to the oral cavity or contiguous structures, developed with an advisory committee split between the Medical Society of Virginia and the Virginia Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, with complaints reviewed jointly by a physician and an oral/maxillofacial surgeon.

Every oral and maxillofacial surgeon must annually register with the Board (18VAC60-21-310) and maintain a public practice profile — schools attended, graduate training, specialty certification, years in practice, insurance/hospital affiliations, and any final disciplinary action — updated within 30 days of any change (§ 54.1-2709.2; 18VAC60-21-320).

Disciplinary actions, malpractice judgments, and repeated malpractice settlements against an oral and maxillofacial surgeon must be reported to the Board in writing by professional societies, health care institutions, and insurance carriers (§§ 54.1-2709.3-.4).

Separately, 18VAC60-21-80 requires a general dentist who limits their practice to a specialty to identify as "a general dentist providing certain services," bars fee advertising that omits related costs, requires full disclosure of discount/free offers, and requires archived copies of ads to be kept for two years.

Code of Virginia § 54.1-2709(E) directs the Board to promulgate regulations requiring continuing education for any dental license renewal or reinstatement, and lets the Board grant extensions or exemptions from those requirements.

Under 18VAC60-21-250, a dentist must complete a minimum of 15 hours of continuing education for each annual renewal — except the first renewal after initial licensure and any restricted volunteer license — including current CPR/BLS (or advanced life support, where applicable) certification, 4 hours every two years on anesthesia/sedation administration for dentists who administer or monitor it, and up to 3 hours per year through uncompensated dental care for low-income patients at a health department or free clinic; excess hours up to 15 may carry over one renewal year.

Dentists who prescribe Schedule II, III or IV controlled substances must complete 2 hours of pain-management continuing education every two years, which may be counted within the 15-hour annual requirement (18VAC60-21-106).

Licenses renew annually in the licensee's birth month (18VAC60-21-240), and reinstating a license expired for more than one year, or revoked or suspended, requires a reinstatement application, the reinstatement fee, and evidence of continuing clinical competence — which the Board evaluates through any of four alternative forms: completed CE hours (capped at 45 total, with at least 15 in the most recent 12 months and the remainder within the preceding 36 months), active clinical practice in another state or federal service, recent passage of a Board-accepted clinical competency exam, or completion of a CODA-accredited refresher program.