Dentist Licensure Requirements in West Virginia

The ADA lists three accepted clinical examination agencies for West Virginia: the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) as administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA, CRDTS, and SRTA.

The examination must cover endodontics (access opening of a posterior tooth and access, canal instrumentation, and obturation of an anterior tooth), fixed prosthodontics (an anterior crown preparation and two posterior crown preparations involving a fixed partial denture factor), periodontics (scaling and root planing), and restorative work (a class II amalgam or composite preparation and restoration and a class III composite preparation and restoration).

The board may also consider clinical examinations taken before July 1, 2019, or individual state clinical examinations, as equivalent if they demonstrate competency.

Section 30-4-8(a) requires an applicant to be at least 18 years old, free of disqualifying criminal convictions, a graduate of a dental school accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation or an equivalently approved school as the board determines, and to have passed the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations' written exam and a clinical examination from the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments, the Central Regional Dental Testing Service, the Council of Interstate Testing Agencies, the Southern Regional Testing Agency, or the Western Regional Examining Board (or a successor to any of those), passing each individual component with no compensatory scoring across the same four subject areas named in the exam block.

The applicant must also not have cheated or committed fraud on any part of the application, must pay the required application fee, must not be an alcohol or drug abuser as defined in §27-1A-11 (though a person in an active recovery process may be considered), and must meet any other requirements set by rule.

Rule §5-9-3 adds the paperwork and process: a Board-prescribed application and fee, an official transcript sent directly from the dental school, exam results sent directly from the testing agencies, successful completion of the West Virginia Dental Law Examination, verification of good standing on every health care license ever held, two letters of professional recommendation (not from family), and a personal interview with the Board or its appointee — waived for applicants who took the law exam in a mass examination at a West Virginia dental school.

Section 30-4-8(b) also bars a dentist from holding out as a specialist or limiting practice to a specialty branch without a board-issued certificate of qualification in that branch.

An out-of-state dentist applies through the Board with the standard application fee and must show a license to practice dentistry in another state granted after educational requirements substantially equivalent to West Virginia's, verified by a formal letter from the issuing state or by submitting a diploma and official transcript from an approved dental school.

The applicant submits proof of passing the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations' written exam and a regional or state clinical board examination approved by the Board, must pass the West Virginia Dental Law Examination, and must verify good standing on every health care license ever held — including confirmation of no pending investigation, no pending charges, and no prior revocation.

Two professional letters of recommendation (not from family) and a personal interview with the Board or its appointee are also required.

A dentist may not hold out as a specialist or practice as one without a board-issued dental specialty license, which requires completing a board-recognized specialty or advanced education program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, holding a general West Virginia dental license, and meeting any additional requirements set by law or rule.

The statute sets minimum full-time academic years (each at least eight calendar months) of graduate, post-graduate, internship or residency training per specialty: one year for dental public health; two years for endodontics, oral and maxillofacial radiology, orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral pathology, dental anesthesiology, oral medicine, and orofacial pain; and three years for oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Orthodontics applicants must also pass the American Board of Orthodontics written examination.

A licensee must limit practice and advertising to the specialty or specialties held, though the limitation lifts for volunteering at organized health clinics and charitable events.

Rule §5-9-7 requires the applicant to already hold a dental license, submit an application and fee, a diploma or transcript from the specialty program, verification of good standing on every health care license held, two professional letters of recommendation, and a personal interview.

Licenses renew annually or biennially per Section 30-4-12, with a renewal fee, a late fee for missed deadlines, and continuing education as a condition of renewal.

Rule §5-11 sets the details: each licensed dentist completes at least 35 hours of continuing education biennially, and a newly licensed dentist must complete 3 hours of drug diversion and best-practice controlled-substance prescribing training, plus opioid antagonist training, within one year of initial licensure.

Within each biennial period, at least 2 hours must cover drug diversion, oral effects of tobacco use, or oral effects of substance abuse (in any combination), and 2 hours must cover infection control; a current CPR/basic life support certification is also required each period and may count toward the total.

Courses must come from a Board-approved provider (an accredited dental/hygiene school, the ADA, AGD, specialty boards, several named West Virginia and national associations, or a Board-approved petitioner), and category limits apply: educational/scientific courses can cover 100% of the requirement, supervised self-instruction up to 80%, and non-supervised self-instruction, published papers, teaching/research appointments, and original table clinics are each capped at 10%.

A licensee is exempt from continuing education through the end of the first reporting period following initial licensure, dental graduate students and residents are exempt from the general requirement but still owe the drug-diversion and basic-life-support training, and a licensee who misses the deadline has 3 months to cure before facing disciplinary action.