States Without a Dental Credentials Route

Most US states have some form of licensure by credentials: a dentist with several years of clean practice elsewhere can get a license without retaking a clinical exam. Two states stand apart. Florida says outright that it does not license by credentials. Delaware has a statute for out-of-state dentists, but it still requires Delaware's own practical exam. Nevada is often grouped with them because it closed its exam-free temporary license in 2006, but it now licenses experienced dentists by endorsement.

If your next job, practice purchase or DSO assignment is in Florida or Delaware, the plan is an exam plan, not a paperwork plan. Here is what each state requires, from its own board pages and statutes.

What does Florida require instead?

The Florida Board of Dentistry's licensing page is blunt: "The State of Florida does not have reciprocity with any state and does not issue licenses by endorsement or credentials." The standard route is licensure by examination under section 466.006, Florida Statutes, which requires:

• The dental National Board exam.
• The Florida Laws and Rules exam, which the Board says you register for through adextesting.org.
• The ADEX dental licensing exam. Scores from ADEX exams taken outside Florida count if completed on or after October 2, 2011, according to the Board's page.

Experienced dentists face one more step. If your out-of-state ADEX was completed more than 365 days before you apply, the Board asks for proof of full-time practice, defined as "a minimum of 1,200 hours per year for each and every year in the consecutive 5-year period preceding the application date," backed by tax returns for each year. You also need verification of every license you hold or have held and a digitally certified NPDB self-query; the Board says it "is not able to accept paper or non-certified digital copies."

So a dentist whose original license came from WREB, CRDTS, NERB or a residency, and who never took ADEX, should expect to sit for ADEX before Florida will issue a standard license.

Are there any Florida exceptions?

Two narrower pathways appear on the Board's site, each with its own conditions:

• License by MOBILE Endorsement under section 456.0145. The Board lists these requirements: an active, unencumbered license in another state; a passing score on a national licensure exam; active practice "for at least two years during the four-year period immediately preceding" the application; never having been reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (unless the report was removed on appeal or the conduct would not violate Florida law); and no discipline in the five years before applying. The Board's process list includes transferring national exam scores "from CDCA, SRTA, WREB, CRDTS, NERB, or ADEX" and Laws and Rules scores from ADEX.
• Health Access Dentist under section 466.0067, which requires five years of active clinical practice immediately before applying and limits practice to qualifying health access settings.

The Board's general statement that it does not issue licenses by endorsement and its separate MOBILE page sit side by side on the same site. If MOBILE might fit your history, confirm eligibility with the Board in writing before you build a plan around it. More in getting a Florida dental license and on the Florida requirements page.

Why does Delaware count as a no-credentials state?

Delaware's code has a section titled "Dentists and dental hygienists licensed in other jurisdictions" (24 Del. C. §1124). It requires three years of active practice in another state, a CODA-accredited dental degree and CPR certification. It also requires the dentist to meet §1122(a)(5), which reads: "Has successfully completed the Delaware practical examination under §1123 of this title."

Section 1123 says that examination is "a validated practical examination prepared and administered by the Board." An applicant who fails it three times may not retake it without showing mitigating circumstances. Delaware's initial license also requires a year in a CODA-accredited general practice residency or a CODA-approved specialty residency, the Delaware jurisprudence exam and the National Boards (§1122(a)).

Delaware is also one of two jurisdictions that do not accept the ADEX Dental Examination for initial licensure, according to the ADEX map, and it does not accept the ADEX Dental Hygiene Examination either. Hygienists coming from elsewhere need three of the last five years of practice plus Delaware's National Board and jurisprudence requirements (§1124(a)(2)). See Delaware dental licensing.

Why is Nevada no longer on the list?

Nevada once issued a temporary license without a clinical exam to a dentist with at least five years of practice in another state, which could convert to a permanent license after two years (NRS 631.272). The statute now says the Board "shall not, on or after July 1, 2006, issue any additional temporary licenses to practice dentistry pursuant to this section."

That closed one route, not every route. Nevada's general endorsement law, NRS 622.530, applies to dentists, and the Board's regulation NAC 631.030(2) lists what an endorsement applicant provides: the standard application documents, a certificate showing "a passing score" on "a nationally recognized, nationally accredited or nationally certified examination or other examination approved by the Board," and "Proof that the applicant has actively practiced dentistry or dental hygiene for the 5 years immediately preceding the date of submission of the application." The written exam on Nevada's dental law and regulations still applies (NRS 631.240(2)).

A dentist without those five recent years applies by examination: under NRS 631.240, a National Board certificate showing an average score of at least 75, plus either a clinical exam approved by the Board and the American Board of Dental Examiners or a Western Regional Examining Board certificate. See Nevada dental licensing.

How should you plan if your target state is one of these?

1. Find your original exam paperwork. Which agency, which year, which sections. That answers whether Florida will accept it, or whether you need ADEX first.
2. Count your practice years and hours. Florida's 1,200-hour, five-year test for older ADEX scores needs tax returns for every year, so gather them early.
3. Book the exam early. ADEX lists exam sites on a live calendar and notes that some sites limit registration to their own students. The ADEX Dental series costs $2,995 plus a facility fee, according to ADEX.
4. Do not count on the compact. Florida has not enacted it, and Delaware's bill is still pending. It issues no privileges anywhere yet. See why the dental compact is not issuing privileges yet.

Can we help with an exam-route application?

Yes. Florida and Delaware call for our Full State Dental License Application service ($899 per state), since there is no credentials file to build. A Nevada endorsement application fits our Dentist License by Credentials service ($799 per state). We map the exam requirements, collect transcripts, score transfers, tax-return practice evidence, verifications and the NPDB self-query, prepare a question-by-question guide, schedule fingerprints and track the board. You register for and take every exam yourself, and you complete, sign, pay for and submit the application. Our Jurisprudence Exam Logistics service ($249 per state) covers Florida's Laws and Rules, Delaware's jurisprudence exam and Nevada's written law exam. Exam and board fees are separate.