How to Verify a Dental License in North Dakota Before You Hire
One free search on the North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners' site covers dentists, hygienists and assistants; confirm the extras — sedation, radiography, expanded duties — separately, and keep a dated record.
North Dakota runs its dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants through one regulator, the North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners (NDSBDE), and the board's free online search covers all three.
Run it on every finalist before you offer the job, confirm the extras — sedation permits, radiography registrations, expanded-duty permits — separately, and keep a dated record of what each search returns.
Here is what the search covers, which permits need their own check, and how to document it.
Rules vary by state and change
This guide explains federal rules and the state rules it names, as of the date above.
Employment law and dental-practice rules differ by state and are revised often, so confirm current requirements with your state dental board, labor agency or employment counsel before you act on them.
It is general information, not legal advice.
Who licenses dental professionals in North Dakota
The North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners (NDSBDE) licenses and registers the state's dental professionals: dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants.
One board, one free online lookup — its "Dentist, Dental Hygienist and Dental Assistant Search" — is billed as "Licensure and Disciplinary Information".
For you, that means every clinical hire's board credential runs through the same place: the associate's license, the hygienist's license and the assistant's registration are all checked on the board's own site before the first patient sits down.
This page is the North Dakota chapter — the national process, and the order to pull records in, is in our guide to how to verify a dental license.
Looking up a dentist's license
Ask your dentist finalist for their license number, then run it on the board's free online lookup.
Choose "Dentist" as the license type and enter either the full license number — a search by number requires the entire number — or a partial last name.
The board says all current licensees are included.
If a finalist's name does not come back, contact the board through its website before you read it as a negative: the search needs the right license type, and the board can confirm what the online record shows.
Sedation is the line to watch with an associate.
The board authorizes sedation by granting permits to qualified dentists: minimal sedation needs no permit, while moderate sedation and deep sedation/general anesthesia require a permit and a board-approved site evaluation.
The search page does not confirm that permits appear in the results — if sedation is part of the job, ask for the permit and confirm it with the board before you schedule those cases.
How a dentist earns a North Dakota license is the candidate's side of the desk — our guide to dentist licensure requirements in North Dakota covers that.
Hygienist licenses and permits
Hygienists are licensed by the same board, so the same search covers them — choose "Dental Hygienist" as the license type and run the license number or last name the same way you would for an associate.
The license is not the whole check.
North Dakota hygienists may hold board permits to administer local anesthetic, carry out anesthesia-related duties, provide restorative care and administer nitrous oxide.
If you are hiring for any of those duties, ask which permits the candidate holds — the search page does not say that permits display in the results, so confirm the permit with the board before you build a schedule around the skill.
What North Dakota requires to become a hygienist, and the duties the license covers, is on our dental hygienist requirements in North Dakota page.
Dental assistant registrations, certificates and permits
Assistants are where North Dakota gets granular.
The board recognizes five levels: Registered Dental Assistant (RDA), Qualified Dental Assistant (QDA), Qualified Dental Assistant-Limited Radiology Registrant, or QDA-LRR, Dental Anesthesia Assistant (DAA) and the unregistered dental assistant.
The board's search has a "Dental Assistant" license type, so run your finalist's registration the same way as a license.
Watch the national certificate.
A DANB Certified Dental Assistant (CDA) is not a board credential in North Dakota: an assistant who holds it must register with the board before carrying out any duties beyond those of an unregistered assistant.
Radiography is the level to check.
The board registers the QDA-LRR to take radiographs under general supervision, with eligibility that includes DANB's Radiation Health & Safety (RHS) exam or a board-approved course.
If radiographs are part of the job, look for a QDA-LRR or higher — below that level, imaging sits outside what the registration covers.
Calendar the renewal date too.
RDA, QDA and QDA-LRR registrations must be renewed by December 31 of even-numbered years, and an assistant who misses renewal may not practice at that registration level until they late-renew or re-register.
Permits ride on top of the registration.
An RDA's pit-and-fissure sealant endorsement appears on the registration card, while restorative duties, nitrous oxide and Class I/II anesthesia duties require separate board permits, renewed with the registration at the end of even-numbered years.
Ask to see the registration card itself — that is where the endorsement shows.
The full duty list for North Dakota assistants is on our dental assistant requirements in North Dakota page.
Discipline history and other states
Discipline is folded into the same search — the board titles it "Licensure and Disciplinary Information" — so the discipline check and the license check are one search.
Board discipline also has a federal shadow.
When a state dental board acts on a dentist's professional competence or conduct — revoking, suspending or restricting a license, censuring, reprimanding, placing the dentist on probation, or accepting a license surrender — it must report the action to the National Practitioner Data Bank, and NPDB regulations count a state Board of Dentistry among its reporters.
A practice that cannot query the data bank directly still has a route: any practitioner can run a self-query at any time, the NPDB sends the response only to the practitioner, and they may share it with whomever they choose — so ask your dentist finalist for one.
Our guide to NPDB queries covers eligibility and the self-query in depth.
And for a candidate who has practiced outside North Dakota: the North Dakota lookup verifies North Dakota credentials.
Licenses are issued and verified state by state — our research found no national dental license lookup — so run the other state's board lookup the same way.
Documenting the check
A verification is only worth what you can prove.
For each credential, save the date you ran the search, the license type you selected, the name and number you entered, and a screenshot or PDF of what came back.
When you want board-sourced details in the file — or you are checking a batch of names — the board will email a list of licensees at no charge, on written request or its List Request form.
The list shows details such as date licensed, license number and expiration date, and arrives in pipe-delimited or csv format.
Fold the license file into the rest of the screen — references, your other background checks, and the federal exclusion list where it applies.
Our guide to OIG exclusion checks covers when and how.
Contract terms get set around the same stage as the check.
Once the credentials clear, the agreement is the next North Dakota-specific document — if your associate is coming from another practice in the state, check what the state allows before you draft.
Our guide to non-competes in North Dakota covers how the state treats them.
Before day one: the North Dakota check
- Ask each finalist for their license or registration number and the level they hold — dentist, hygienist, RDA, QDA, QDA-LRR or DAA.
- Run the board's free online search with the right license type (Dentist, Dental Hygienist or Dental Assistant) and a full license number or partial last name.
- Save a dated screenshot or PDF of each result, with the name and number you searched.
- If the role includes sedation, radiographs, sealants, restorative or nitrous duties, ask for the permit, endorsement or registration and confirm it with the board.
- Check an RDA, QDA or QDA-LRR registration's renewal timing — December 31 of even-numbered years — before you set the start date.
- Ask dentist finalists for an NPDB self-query result, and run any other state's board lookup for out-of-state licenses.
- Request the board's free emailed licensee list when you want board-sourced details such as expiration dates in the file.
Questions employers ask
Does the North Dakota board search cover dental assistants?
Yes.
The board's online lookup is one search with three license types — Dentist, Dental Hygienist and Dental Assistant — and the board says all current licensees are included.
North Dakota registers assistants at several levels — RDA, QDA, QDA-LRR and DAA — so pick the Dental Assistant license type and run the registration number or last name the same way you would a license.
An unregistered dental assistant holds no board registration to look up, and a DANB certification is not a board registration either.
Is a DANB CDA enough to work as a dental assistant in North Dakota?
Not on its own.
The board says a CDA is not a title or endorsement it provides — an assistant who holds the DANB credential must register with the board before carrying out any duties beyond those of an unregistered dental assistant.
When you hire, verify the board registration itself and match the registration level to the duties you need, including radiography.
How do I verify a North Dakota dentist's sedation permit?
The board authorizes sedation by granting permits to qualified dentists: minimal sedation requires no permit, while moderate sedation and deep sedation/general anesthesia require a permit and a board-approved site evaluation.
The search page does not confirm that permits appear in the results, so ask the dentist for the permit and confirm it with the board before you schedule sedation cases.
When do North Dakota dental assistant registrations expire?
Registrations at the RDA, QDA and QDA-LRR levels must be renewed by December 31 of even-numbered years.
An assistant who misses the deadline may not practice at that registration level until they late-renew or re-register — so a lapsed registration changes what your hire can do on day one, even with strong skills and references.
Can I get a list of North Dakota licensees from the board?
Yes.
The board will email a list of licensees at no charge on written request or its List Request form.
The list includes details such as date licensed, license number and expiration date, and is sent in pipe-delimited or csv format.
For a single hire, start with the online search; the emailed list is useful when you want board-sourced details for the file or are checking several names at once.
Sources
- North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners — Dentist, Dental Hygienist and Dental Assistant Search (lookup, search mechanics, emailed licensee list) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners — Dental Assistants (assistant levels, CDA registration, renewal deadline) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners — QDA-LRR (radiography registration) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners — Dentist Anesthesia (sedation permits) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners — Hygienist Expanded Functions (hygienist permits) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- North Dakota State Board of Dental Examiners — RDA Permits (sealant endorsement, separate permits) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- eCFR — 45 CFR 60.8 (NPDB reporting by state boards) (retrieved October 7, 2026)
- eCFR — 45 CFR 60.3 (NPDB definitions) (retrieved October 6, 2026)
- NPDB Guidebook — Self-Queries (a practitioner may query about themselves) (retrieved October 6, 2026)
- NPDB — Self-Query Basics (practitioner shares their own response) (retrieved October 6, 2026)
More hiring resources
Hiring a dentist, hygienist or assistant in North Dakota?
Post the role on DentistryHires, then run the North Dakota checks above on every finalist before you make the offer.