Dentist Licensure Requirements in Wisconsin

The ADA lists two accepted clinical examination pathways for Wisconsin: the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) exam administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA, and CRDTS+SRTA.

For WREB examinees testing on or after January 1, 2009, Parts I and III of ADEX are not required.

On July 12, 2023 the Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board approved Marquette University School of Dentistry (MUSD) as a dental testing service, satisfying Wis.

Admin.

Code s.

DE 2.005(1) and (2); this exempts MUSD graduates from completing an exam for licensure, and the approval runs through July 12, 2028 unless revoked or renewed by the board.

Wis.

Stat. s. 447.04(1)(a) requires a dentist applicant to submit an application and fee, show graduation from an accredited dental school, pass the national dental examination and the exam of a board-approved dental testing service, pass a board-administered exam on Wisconsin's dentistry statutes and rules, and show current CPR/AED proficiency.

Paragraph (b) lets the board grant a license to a dentist already licensed in good standing in another U.S. state or territory or in another country who meets the board's rule requirements and shows CPR/AED proficiency, while paragraph (c) creates a separate faculty-only license for an applicant with a full-time dental-school faculty job offer in Wisconsin, subject to fee, interview and CPR/AED conditions; that license is valid only within educational facilities and lapses if the faculty position ends.

Administrative rule DE 2.005 sets the standards a dental testing service's exam must meet — testing clinical knowledge and including a practical component with live or simulated patients — and DE 2.01 lists the documents an applicant must submit, including, for graduates of foreign dental schools, evidence of a DDS or DMD degree or an equivalent supplemental dental education program of at least two academic years.

DE 2.05 sets the passing score for an examination at the testing service's own recommended passing score.

DE 2.04 lets the board grant a dentist license by endorsement to an applicant who holds a valid license in good standing from another U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction, on payment of the fee and evidence of graduation from an accredited dental school (or, for foreign graduates, a DDS/DMD or equivalent supplemental training).

The applicant must also disclose all discipline ever imposed in any jurisdiction, including reports from the national practitioner data bank and the American Association of Dental Boards, and have no pending disciplinary action.

The applicant must have passed an examination the board judges substantially equivalent to a board-approved testing service exam, or alternatively a recognized specialty board certification exam, plus a jurisprudence exam on Wisconsin's dentistry statutes and rules and current CPR/AED proficiency, and must satisfactorily answer any interview the board requires.

Chapter DE 6 governs advertising rather than specialty credentialing directly.

DE 6.02 lists unprofessional advertising, including false or deceptive claims, undisclosed payment for publicity, and refusing to honor an advertised price, and specifically bars advertising a practice as limited to a dental specialty unless the dentist has completed a post-doctoral training program approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation in an ADA-recognized specialty; advertising as a specialist in a non-ADA-recognized specialty is prohibited outright.

A dentist's Wisconsin license runs on a biennial cycle: DE 2.02 sets a two-year license period, and DE 2.03 requires renewal by October 1 of the odd-numbered year following initial licensure and every two years after that.

Section 447.056 requires 30 credit hours of continuing education related to dentistry or medicine in the two years before renewal, with at least 25 of those hours in clinical dentistry or clinical medicine instruction, at least 2 hours on prescribing controlled substances for dental pain, and no more than 4 hours credited from teaching; a licensee's first renewal after initial licensure is exempt from the CE requirement.

DE 13.03 lets active enrollment in an accredited postdoctoral dental residency for at least 12 months of the cycle satisfy the full 30-hour requirement, and DE 13.05 requires that qualifying CE be sponsored by a recognized dental or medical professional organization, offered as an accredited college-level course, or completed through a qualifying study group.

Renewal under DE 2.03 also requires current CPR/AED proficiency, and licensees holding a sedation permit must show current ACLS or PALS certification; a dentist who misses CE by the renewal date must stop practicing until reinstated, and reinstating after more than five years requires an active out-of-state license, a new board-approved exam, a one-year general practice residency, or a board-approved clinical education program.