Dentist Licensing in the US and Canada

By MedXL Editorial Team · Updated 2026-08-26 · 6 min read

Dentistry, like the other regulated health professions in North America, is licensed at the state and provincial level. But the dental pathway has its own architecture: a written national board exam and, in many US states, a separate clinical examination; in Canada, a national certification body whose certificate most provinces accept as the core credential. Here is how the two systems work, including the routes available to internationally trained dentists.

United States. Each state has a dental board (sometimes a board of dentistry within a larger agency) that licenses dentists and dental hygienists, sets scope rules, and handles discipline. The Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations oversees the written national board exam, and the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) accredits education programs.

Canada. The National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB) issues the national certificate that provincial and territorial dental regulators rely on for licensure. Each province has its own regulator, such as the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, and Quebec's order operates with additional language requirements under provincial law.

In this guide

Who regulates dentists
The US pathway for domestically trained dentists
The Canadian pathway for domestically trained dentists
Internationally trained dentists
Specialists
Practical planning advice
Maintaining a dental license
Key takeaways