Chicago Dentist - Licensing Dentists

Licensing Dentists

A government agency must approve a dentist’s qualifications before he or she can legally treat patients.  This process of governmental agency approval is known as dental licensensure.  The credential that is awarded is a dental license.  Individual states, districts, and dependencies award dental licenses.  So, a license awarded by one area permits the recipient to practice only in that specific location.  For example, a dentist licensed in the State of Illinois cannot practice in another state until he received a license from that other state.

Licensure requirements vary from state to state, but all are similar in some respects.  They all consist of an educational requirement, a written examination requirement, and a clinical examination requirement.  For the examinations, most states recognize the results of the national Board of dental examinations.  The clinical examination requirement falls under the auspices of the state Board of licensure of the region in which the dentist will practice.  Lastly, licensing may also require the candidate to be of sound moral character.  This will vary from state to state.